merit
mer·it/ˈmɛɹɪt/noun, verb
merit is spelled M-E-R-I-T: 5 letters and 2 syllables (mer·it). It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, merit means “A claim to commendation or a reward” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of merit is merits.
How many letters and syllables are in merit?
| Letters | 5: M-E-R-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: mer·it |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,230th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is merit?
Merit appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce merit?
- UK /ˈmɛɹɪt/
- UK /ˈmɛɹət/
- US /ˈmɛɹɪt/
Merit has 2 syllables, split mer·it in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-merit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with merit?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as merit (/ɛɹɪt/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: timer, remit, mitre, miter.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of merit
- merits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- meriting participle, present
- merited participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does merit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A claim to commendation or a reward.
- 2
A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.
For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her ten merits.
- 3
Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.
His reward for his merit was a check for $50.
- 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.
to acquire or make merit
- 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.
Even though the plaintiff was ordered by the judge to pay some costs for not having followed the correct procedure, she won the case on the merits.
- 6
obsoleteThe quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment.
verb
- 1
To deserve, to earn.
Her performance merited wild applause.
- 2
To be deserving or worthy.
They were punished as they merited.
- 3
obsoleterareTo reward.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Merit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mérite , mériter |
| German | Verdienst |
| Portuguese | mérito |
| Spanish | mérito , meritar, ameritar , merecimiento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.