Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “merite” come from?

merite (Middle English) comes from Anglo-Norman merit, from Old French merite, from Latin meritum, from Latin meritus, from Latin mereō, from Proto-Indo-European (s)mer- — to fall into thinking, remember, care for; to...

merite (Middle English): quality of person’s character or conduct...

Definitions

  1. quality of person’s character or conduct...

Ancestry of “merite”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Anglo-Normanmerit—
2Old Frenchmeritemerit
3Latinmeritummerit, service, deserts; value, reward, benefit,...
4Latinmeritusearned, deserved, obtained, due, proper, right,...
5Latinmereō—
6Proto-Indo-European(s)mer-to fall into thinking, remember, care for; to...

Words derived from “merite”

  • merit
  • meritocracy
  • meritless
  • meriter
  • meriteth
  • meritest
  • meritable
  • unmeritable
  • meritory
  • meritious
  • meritlessness
  • antimeritocracy
  • overmerit
  • premerit
  • immerit
  • meritlessly
  • meritmonger
  • メリット
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)mer- →