> as lemmas

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Lady of May in Arcadia (1598) sig. Bbb5^v [Pedant loq.] Either according to the penetrancie of their singing, or the meliority of their functions, or lastly the superancy of their merits.

1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura Ded. sig. A3^v I shall pronounce you (and as indeed your merits do challenge it) the Phænix of this latter Age.

1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref. sig. *A^v I soon resolv'd to put their Merits to the Trial, by turning some of the Canterbury Tales into our Language.

1759 A. Smith Theory Moral Sentiments vii. ii. iii Proper benevolence..appears to our natural sentiments to possess a merit superior to any other.

1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 49 Would you ask for his merits, alas! he had none.

1814 W. Scott Waverley III. xvii. 255 The rescue of the prisoner..might constitute a merit of such a nature as would make amends for any peccadilloes which he might be guilty of in the country. View more context for this quotation

1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vi. iv. 133 His infallible plan..had the merit of being brief.

1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Parish Churches 185 The other method has the merit of economy.

1897 Westm. Gaz. 19 May 2/1 Faults first, merits afterwards! Such is our uncomfortable critical habit.

1901 R. Kipling Kim v. 133 It is no wrong to pay for learning; to help the ignorant to wisdom is always a merit.

1908 E. M. Forster Room with View i. 12 He has the merit—if it is one—of saying exactly what he means.

1938 R. K. Narayan Dark Room vi. 100 She made a feeble effort to divert Savitri's thoughts by talking about the picture, its merits and demerits.

1983 A. Bullock Ernest Bevin iii. 97 It did not take long for Bevin to appreciate..the merits of a public school education.

1995 Q June 134/4 Their..tag-line..does have the merit of making this rag-bag of front-room demos sound as if it might merit a listen.