merit

/ˈmɛɹɪt/

//ˈmɛɹɪt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"merit" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“merit” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,267. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,267
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A claim to commendation or a reward.

Corpus desk

Index EN-merit · merit · English

merit · rank #6,267 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,267
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH merchant

Nearest frequency peer: merchant (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “merit”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “merit” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

merit vs met
60% similar
merit vs mit
60% similar
merit vs MRI
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for merit
PropertyValue
Headwordmerit
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛɹɪt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,267
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “merit”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).meritlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “merchant” (#6,266), “micro” (#6,268), “lords” (#6,265). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “merit” is #6,267. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around merit (IPA /ˈmɛɹɪt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,267 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for merit, with forms such as "emrit", "meirt", and "meritt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "met", "mit", "MRI", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English merit, merite (“quality of person’s character or conduct deserving of reward or punishment; such reward or punishment; excellence, worthiness; benefit; right to be rewarded for spiritual service; retribution at doomsday; virtue through w… The correct English form is merit, spelled M-E-R-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A claim to commendation or a reward.
  2. 2
    A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.
  3. 3
    Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.
  4. 4
    The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment.
  5. 5
    Usually in the plural form the merits: the substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, a lawsuit, etc., as opposed to technical matters such as the admissibility of evidence or points of legal procedure; (by extension) the overall good or bad quality, or rightness or wrongness, of some other thing.
  6. 6
    The quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how merit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. [R]eputation is an idle and moſt falſe impoſition , oft got without merit and loſt without deſeruing.
  2. For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her ten merits.

Etymology

From Middle English merit, merite (“quality of person’s character or conduct deserving of reward or punishment; such reward or punishment; excellence, worthiness; benefit; right to be rewarded for spiritual service; retribution at doomsday; virtue through which Jesus Christ brings about salvation; virtue possessed by a holy person; power of a pagan deity”), from Anglo-Norman merit, merite, Old French merite (“moral worth, reward; merit”) (modern French mérite), from Latin meritum (“that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason”), neuter of meritus (“deserved, earned, obtained; due, proper, right; deserving, meritorious”), perfect passive participle of mereō (“to deserve, earn, obtain, merit; to earn a living”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot, assign”). The English word is probably cognate with Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot”) and cognate with Old Occitan merit.

This word in other languages

mérito(Español)mérite(Français)Verdienst(Deutsch)mérito(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emrit
  • meirt
  • meritt
  • merrit
  • merti
  • mmerit
  • mreit

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of merit - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

emrit2meirt2meritt1merrit1merti2mmerit1mreit2
Edit distance from "merit"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "merit"?
"merit" is spelled M-E-R-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛɹɪt/.
What does "merit" mean?
As a noun, "merit" means: A claim to commendation or a reward.
What words are commonly confused with "merit"?
"merit" is commonly confused with "met", "mit", "MRI". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "merit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "merit" is /ˈmɛɹɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "merit"?
From Middle English merit, merite (“quality of person’s character or conduct deserving of reward or punishment; such reward or punishment; excellence, worthiness; benefit; right to be rewarded for spiritual service; retribution at doomsday; virtue... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "merit", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

micro#6,268lords#6,265lodge#6,264lined#6,263

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

myth7 variantspoison7 variantsgrief7 variantsfreak7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list