(1):

(n.) Esp. in a good sense: The quality or state of deserving well; worth; excellence.

(2):

(n.) Reward deserved; any mark or token of excellence or approbation; as, his teacher gave him ten merits.

(3):

(n.) To earn by service or performance; to have a right to claim as reward; to deserve; sometimes, to deserve in a bad sense; as, to merit punishment.

(4):

(n.) To reward.

(5):

(v. i.) To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to profit.

(6):

(n.) The quality or state of deserving well or ill; desert.