mériter French · revision 16612

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=early 14th century, Aimé du Mont-Cassin|origins=la mereō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /me.ʁi.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mériter'''^(Wiktionary)

+ The Académie spelled it ''meriter'' in 1694 and 1718, ''mériter'' from 1740.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|mérite|-er]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(FEW|6/2, 29a) “Mérite” was borrowed from [[la|meritum|t=desert, merit]], from [[m|la|mereō|t=to earn, deserve]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary also allows a borrowing of [[la|meritō|t=to earn]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It replaced Old French [[m|fro|merir|t=to reward]], used from the 12th to the 16th century, the inherited outcome of “merere”, “bien mériter de” copies the Latin “bene merere de”.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Bloch and Wartburg date it from 1317.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Louis XI (15th century) still writes ''vous le meriterai'' “I shall reward you for it”.^(Littré 1873) 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''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989) ''Bien mériter de'' “to serve well” is in Du Bellay (1549).^(TLFi)

+

+ The Académie (1718) applies it to a thing that deserves attention, and ''mériter de'' with an infinitive is in Larousse (1874).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 14th century – “To reward”, Aimé du Mont-Cassin.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1480 – To incur a punishment.^(TLFi)

+ * 1495 – “To be worthy of”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Bien mériter de'', Du Bellay.^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – A thing that deserves something, Académie.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|deserve]], [[m|en|merit]] (a reward or a punishment): ''mériter l'estime de qqn'', ''un repos bien mérité'', ''il l'a bien mérité''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be worth, call for (of a thing): ''cela mérite réflexion'', ''mériter de'', to deserve to.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Bien mériter de'': to have served well: ''bien mériter de la patrie''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[méritant]]

+ * [[immérité]]

+ * [[démériter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mérite]]

+ * [[méritoire]]

+ * [[la|mereō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}