Merit is used especially in formal contexts. In everyday English, people usually talk about the good points of something:merit尤用于正式文体中。日常英语中一般说good points
The book does have its good points.
这本书确有它的可取之处。
2[uncountableU] formalDESERVE a good quality that makes someone or something deservepraise 优秀品质
There is never any merit in being second best.
不是最好就不值一提。
have (some) merit/be of merit (=be good) 有可称道之处
The suggestion has some merit.
这个建议有可取之处。
on merit
Students are selected solely on merit (=because they are good).
学生都是择优录取的。
artistic/literary merit
a film lacking any artistic merit
一部毫无艺术价值的电影
3judge/consider etc something on its (own) meritsto judge something only on what you see when you look at it rather than on what you know from other people or things 根据某事件本身的情况来判断/考虑等
It’s important to judge each case on its merits.
每种情况都要具体斟酌。
nCOLLOCATIONS – Meanings 1 & 2
verbs
have merit
Both suggestions had some merit.
discuss/debate the merits of something (=discuss whether or not something is a good idea)
They were discussing the merits of sending soldiers to the area.
consider/judge the merits of something (=think about whether or not something is a good idea)
The committee is considering the merits of the proposal.
assess/evaluate the merits of something (=to decide what is good about something using careful methods)
Has any study assessed the merits of the two schools?
question the merits of something (=not be sure if something is a good idea)
People began to question the merits of nuclear energy.
see little/no merit in something (=think that something is not a good idea)
I can see no merit in violence.
have its merits (=have some good qualities)
Each idea has its merits.
adjectives
artistic merit (=the qualities that make something good as a piece of art)
What are the artistic merits of this statue?
literary merit (=the qualities that make something good as a book, play, or poem)
There was no literary merit in his poems.
great merit
It seems to me that the idea has great merit.
outstanding merit (=very great merit)
The prize is given to students of outstanding merit.
considerable merit (=a lot of merit)
There is considerable merit in using this kind of approach.
the relative/comparative merits of something (=the good qualities of something as compared to something else)
She is an expert in the relative merits of spa waters.
relative merits• Within weeks after our arrival the managers of each department had begun to debate our relative merits.• In private, however, all are making judgements about the relative merits of each of the authorities.• First, we will need to consider the relative merits of selling the assets of the business as opposed to the shares.• Worse yet, they provide lots of ambiguity and material for debate on the relative merits of centralization and decentralization.• He lost all perspective on the relative merits of the jobs.• There is some debate as to the relative merits of homoeopathy and herbalism.• The relative merits of both approaches have to be considered when opting for a solution to a particular diagnostic problem.• The relative merits of free, natural and controlled language need to be evaluated.
artistic/literary merit• But Sophie Ryder is a sculptor who finds artistic merit in the more mundaneaspects of rural life.• The fifty-year-old display area is now to be replaced with a new space of suitably high artistic merit.• Does An exactcopy of a Michelangelo statue lose artistic merit because it doesn't have his name on it.• Obviously, there is no literary merit in such rhymes.• For most novels of literary merit, neither the dualist nor the monist doctrine will be entirely satisfactory.• Membership of East Berlin's Akademie depended on government approval more than on artistic merit.
merit2 ●○○ verb [transitiveT] formal
DESERVEto be good, important, or serious enough for praise or attention 应得到,值得〔称赞或注意〕SYN deserve
The results have been encouraging enough to merit further investigation.
结果令人振奋,值得进一步调查研究。
It’s a fascinating book which merits attention.
这是本引人入胜的书,值得关注。
nGRAMMAR: Using the progressive
Merit is not used in the progressive. You say:
This suggestion merits serious consideration.
✗Don’t say: This suggestion is meriting serious consideration.
Examples from the Corpus
merit• Her business has become so famous that she felt its success story merited a corner display in her new museum.• Reality: Under new state guidelines, her situation rarely would merit an investigation.• At the outset two points meritemphasis.• The subject has an importance in the history of war at this period which merits emphasis.• Puisieulx Puisieulx is the smallest of the grand cru villages and certainly does not merit its exaltedstatus.• Finally, one issue merits more detailedcomment because of its implications for the entire Docklands community - housing.• The committee will decide whether the case merits more serious attention.• It is beyond me how it came To merit such enormousfame.
Originmerit1
(1100-1200)Old Frenchmerite, from Latinmeritum, from merere“to deserve, earn”