Mer`is*mat"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; division, fr. &?; part.] (Biol.)
Dividing into cells or segments; characterized by separation into two
or more parts or sections by the formation of internal partitions; as,
merismatic growth, where one cell divides into many.
Mer"i*stem (?), n. [Gr. &?; divisible.] (Bot.) A tissue of growing
cells, or cells capable of further division.
Mer"it (?), n. [F. mérite, 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.
Here may men see how sin hath his merit.
Chaucer.
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.
2. Esp. in a good sense: The quality or state of deserving well; worth;
excellence.
Reputation is . . . oft got without merit, and lost without
deserving.
Shak.
To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known, And every author's
merit, but his own.
Pope.
3. Reward deserved; any mark or token of excellence or approbation; as,
his teacher gave him ten merits.
Those laurel groves, the merits of thy youth.
Prior.
Mer"it, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Merited; p. pr. & vb. n. Meriting.] [F.
mériter, 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.