Etymologically
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mériter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /me.ʁi.te/[1]

Forms

mériter[1] The Académie spelled it meriter in 1694 and 1718, mériter from 1740.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French mérite + -er.[2][3][4][5][6][7] “Mérite” was borrowed from Latin meritum (“desert, merit”), from mereō (“to earn, deserve”).[5] Wiktionary also allows a borrowing of Latin meritō (“to earn”).[1]

It replaced Old French merir (“to reward”), used from the 12th to the 16th century, the inherited outcome of “merere”, “bien mériter de” copies the Latin “bene merere de”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aimé du Mont-Cassin's Ystoire de li Normant (early 14th century) uses it absolutely for “to reward”, a sense confined to the Middle Ages.[2][4][3] Bloch and Wartburg date it from 1317.[5]

Semantic evolution

Louis XI (15th century) still writes vous le meriterai “I shall reward you for it”.[6] The modern senses appear at the end of the 15th century: incurring a punishment (about 1480, merité ont dampnacion), being worthy of something (1495), and Commynes's sans en rien l'avoir merité.[2][6][4] Bien mériter de “to serve well” is in Du Bellay (1549).[2]

The Académie (1718) applies it to a thing that deserves attention, and mériter de with an infinitive is in Larousse (1874).[4]

Timeline

  • early 14th century – “To reward”, Aimé du Mont-Cassin.[2]
  • c. 1480 – To incur a punishment.[2]
  • 1495 – “To be worthy of”.[2]
  • 1549 – Bien mériter de, Du Bellay.[2]
  • 1718 – A thing that deserves something, Académie.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To deserve, merit (a reward or a punishment): mériter l'estime de qqn, un repos bien mérité, il l'a bien mérité.[8][1]
  2. To be worth, call for (of a thing): cela mérite réflexion, mériter de, to deserve to.[4][8]
  3. Bien mériter de: to have served well: bien mériter de la patrie.[2]

Word family

  • méritant
  • immérité
  • démériter

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 29a
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert