The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Merit \Mer"it\, n. [F. m['e]rite, L. meritum, fr. merere,
   mereri, to deserve, merit; prob. originally, to get a share;
   akin to Gr. ? part, ? fate, doom, ? to receive as one's
   portion. Cf. Market, Merchant, Mercer, Mercy.]
   1. The quality or state of deserving well or ill; desert.
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            Here may men see how sin hath his merit. --Chaucer.
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            Be it known, that we, the greatest, are misthought
            For things that others do; and when we fall,
            We answer other's merits in our name. --Shak.
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   2. Esp. in a good sense: The quality or state of deserving
      well; worth; excellence.
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            Reputation is . . . oft got without merit, and lost
            without deserving.                    --Shak.
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            To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known,
            And every author's merit, but his own. --Pope.
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   3. Reward deserved; any mark or token of excellence or
      approbation; as, his teacher gave him ten merits.
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            Those laurel groves, the merits of thy youth.
                                                  --Prior.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Merit \Mer"it\, v. i.
   To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to
   profit. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Merit \Mer"it\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Merited; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Meriting.] [F. m['e]riter, L. meritare, v. intens. fr.
   merere. See Merit, n.]
   1. 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. "This kindness merits
      thanks." --Shak.
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   2. To reward. [R. & Obs.] --Chapman.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

merit
    n 1: any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit"
         [syn: merit, virtue] [ant: demerit, fault]
    2: the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance);
       "there were many children whose deservingness he recognized
       and rewarded" [syn: deservingness, merit,
       meritoriousness]
    v 1: be worthy or deserving; "You deserve a promotion after all
         the hard work you have done" [syn: deserve, merit]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

96 Moby Thesaurus words for "merit":
   accent, advantage, advantageousness, agreeableness, arete, assets,
   auspiciousness, award, be deserving, be entitled to, be worthy of,
   beneficialness, benevolence, benignity, caliber, class, cogency,
   comeuppance, concern, concernment, consequence, consequentiality,
   consideration, desert, deserts, deserve, deserving, due,
   due reward, dues, earn, emphasis, entitle, excellence, excellency,
   expedience, fairness, favorableness, fineness, first-rateness,
   good, goodliness, goodness, grace, healthiness, helpfulness,
   high order, high rank, import, importance, interest, just deserts,
   justify, kindness, mark, materiality, merits, moment, niceness,
   note, paramountcy, perfection, pleasantness, precedence,
   preeminence, primacy, priority, profitableness, quality, rate,
   recompense, repay, requite, reward, rewardingness, rights,
   self-importance, significance, skillfulness, soundness, stature,
   stress, strong point, superiority, supremacy, usefulness, validity,
   value, virtue, virtuousness, warrant, weight, wholeness, winnings,
   worth, worthiness



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

MERITS. This word is used principally in matters of defence.
     2. A defence upon the merits, is one that rests upon the justice of the
cause, and not upon technical grounds only; there is, therefore, a
difference between a good defence, which may be technical or not, and a
defence on the merits. 5 B. & Ald. 703 1 Ashm. R. 4; 5 John. R. 536; Id.
360; 3 John. R. 245 Id. 449; 6 John. R. 131; 4 John. R. 486; 2 Cowen, R.
281; 7 Cowen, R. 514; 6 Wend. R. 511; 6 Cowen, R. 895.