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demerit

 - 3 dictionary results

de⋅mer⋅it

  [di-mer-it]
Use demerit in a Sentence
–noun
1. a mark against a person for misconduct or deficiency: If you receive four demerits during a term, you will be expelled from school.
2. the quality of being censurable or punishable; fault; culpability.
3. Obsolete. merit or desert.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME (< OF desmerite) < ML dēmeritum fault, n. use of neut. ptp. of L dēmerēre to earn, win the favor of (dē- taken in ML as privative, hence pejorative). See de-, merit

Related forms:
de⋅mer⋅i⋅to⋅ri⋅ous  [di-mer-i-tawr-ee-uhs, -tohr-] , adjective
de⋅mer⋅i⋅to⋅ri⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To demerit
de·mer·it   (dĭ-měr'ĭt)   
n.  

    1. A quality or characteristic deserving of blame or censure; a fault.

    2. Absence of merit.

  2. A mark made against one's record for a fault or for misconduct.


[Middle English demerite, offense, from Old French desmerite, from Latin dēmeritum, from neuter past participle of dēmerēre, to deserve : dē-, de- + merēre, to earn; see (s)mer-2 in Indo-European roots.]
de·mer'i·to'ri·ous (-tôr'ē-əs, -tōr'-) adj., de·mer'i·to'ri·ous·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

demerit 
1399, from O.Fr. desmerite, from des- "not, opposite" + merite "merit." L. demereri meant "to merit, deserve," from de- in its completive sense. But M.L. demeritum meant "fault." Both senses existed in the M.Fr. form of the word. Meaning "penalty point in school" is attested from 1862.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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