Etymograph

English

meritorious

Meritorious comes from Latin meritōrius ‘earning money’, from meritus ‘earned, deserved, obtained, due, proper,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mr̥-éh₁-yeti.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mr̥-éh₁-yeti1sreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merēō1‘to deserve’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmereō2‘to earn’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritus2‘earned, deserved, obtained, due, proper, right, having been earned, merited’past participle of mereō
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritōrius2‘earning money’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meritorious2
  7. Englishtodaymeritorious2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mereo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English meritorious

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mr̥-éh₁-yetiWiktionary, Latin mereosreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merēōWiktionary, Latin mereo‘to deserve’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmereōWiktionary, English meritorious‘to earn’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritusWiktionary, English meritorious‘earned, deserved, obtained, due, proper, right, having been earned, merited’past participle of mereō
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritōriusWiktionary, English meritorious‘earning money’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meritoriousWiktionary, English meritorious
  7. EnglishtodaymeritoriousWiktionary, English meritorious

Linked words

through Latin mereō ‘to earn’

emeritus, 6 more

Today it means

adj Deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “meritorious”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin mereo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mr̥-éh₁-yeti / meritorious

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