merit-, meri-, mere- +

1. A quality or characteristic deserving of blame or censure; a fault.
2. Absence of merit; the quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection.
3. A mark made against a person's record for a fault or for misconduct.
4. A mark recorded about a person for his or her misconduct; failure, or deficiency; usually given in a school or in the military forces.

A retired or honorably discharged woman from active professional duty, but retaining the title of her office or position.

University women who retire from academic life may be given the rank of emerita [singular], emeritae [plural]; although some institutions avoid using this Latin feminist form perhaps either because of ignorance about the gender difference or because they do not want to make a "sexist" distinction.

Considered as having done sufficient public service, and therefore honorably discharged.

Having served his time.

The origin of this word comes from Roman military tradition with the meaning of "a soldier who has served his time honorably". Modern usage usually refers to a university officer who is rewarded for faithful service with the position, for example, of "professor emeritus".

Such a title may allow the person so honored to continue to use the facilities of the institution and to attend ceremonies as an honored member of the academic community.

Learning and benefit for all.

Motto of Isothermal Community College, Spindale, North Carolina, USA.

Want of worth; demerit.

Unmerited.

Undeserving.

1. Attracting attention in a vulgar manner.
2. Plausible but false or insincere; specious: "He had a meretricious argument."
3. Of or relating to prostitutes or prostitution: "They had meretricious relationships."

Believe it or not, but this word is related to the origins of merit; literally, "one who earns money" from Latin mereri, "to earn". The result is that the Latin meretricius (modern, meretricious) means "pertaining to harlots; someone who earns money by means of prostitution".

1. Superior quality or worth; excellence; to consider a proposal on its merits: "She had a proposal of some merit; however, he had an ill-advised plan without merit."
2. A quality deserving praise or approval; virtue: "This merits closer inspection."
3. Value that deserves respect and acknowledgment.
4. Demonstrated ability or achievement: "Their promotions were based on merit alone."
5. A work of considerable technical and artistic merit; proven ability or accomplishment.
6. A good or praiseworthy characteristic that someone or something has.
7. An aspect of character or behavior deserving approval or disapproval. Often used in the plural: "Some people feel the award wasn't merited."
8. Christianity: Spiritual credit granted for good works; spiritual worthiness achieved by doing good works.
9. In law: A party's strict legal rights, excluding jurisdictional, personal, or technical aspects.
10. In law: The factual content of a matter, apart from emotional, contextual, or formal considerations.

Deserving a reward or praise.

Properly deserved.

1. Having sufficient worth.
2. Having the quality of deserving praise, or having a good quality.

1. Government by people who are selected on the basis of merit in a competitive educational system.
2. A government made up of an influential class of educated people.
3. An elite group of people whose progress is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth.
4. A system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement instead of personal influences.

Relating to or characteristic of a meritocracy.