merit

Forms

merit n (plural merite)^[1] The old plural merituri occurs in the early 19th century: „pentru deschilinite merituri” “for distinguished merits”.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French mérite (“merit”).^[3][2][1] Tiktin, MDA2 and MDN add Latin meritum as a second source, and DN also compares Italian merito.^[4][5][6][7]

The French noun, recorded about 1118, is borrowed from the Latin one, “gain, wage; service; conduct deserving reward or punishment”, derived from mereō (“to earn, deserve”).^[8] In Late Latin the word took the sense “worth”, and in Christian Latin “spiritual worth”.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Micu's history, from 1801.^[4] An early instance in the periodical press, from 1829, speaks of an order awarded „pentru meritul vrednicilor slujbe” “for the merit of worthy services”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word meant the quality that makes someone worthy of esteem or reward, often in the plural for deserving deeds.^[2] Negulici in 1848 defined it as the quality, talent or conduct that makes one worthy of esteem and reward.^[9] It was soon applied to things as well, to works of art and books: Heliade wrote that a work holds its author's merits and faults.^[2][10] Șăineanu still included worthiness of punishment among its senses.^[10]

Set phrases followed: om de merit, cu merit “deserving”, recorded from 1836, diplomă de merit for pupils with outstanding results, and pe merit “deservedly”.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1801 – the first record, in Micu's history.^[4]
• 1829 – meritul “the merit” of services rewarded with an order.^[2]
• 1836 – om cu merit “a man of merit”.^[2]
• 1848 – merrit in Negulici's dictionary of new words.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. merit: a remarkable quality that makes someone or something worthy of esteem, praise or reward; worth, virtue.^[3][5][1]
2. pe merit: deservedly, with good reason: A câștigat pe merit. “He won deservedly.”^[3][5]
3. de merit or cu merite: worthy, of value;^[5][11] diplomă de merit, a diploma given to pupils for outstanding results.^[5][11]

Related words

• merita
• meritoriu
• French mérite
• Latin meritum

Usage notes

The rare old form meritum is the Latin word itself.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. merit
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 642
4. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. merit
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1491
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București
10. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 60