meristem 
the various tissue-elements, and which ordinarily soon 
lose the power of independent growth, and namdary 
meristem, in which the tissue-elements retain during their 
life the properties of typical cells, consisting of a closed 
cell-membrane with active protoplasm, a nucleus, and cell- 
contents. They retain the power of independent growth, 
and a meristem may arise from them at any time. 
meristematic (mer''is-te-mat'ik), a. [< meris- 
tem + -afe'c 2 .] Consisting of or pertaining to 
the meristem, 
meristematically (mer'is-te-mat'i-kal-i), adv. 
After the manner of meriste'm. 
meristogenetic (me-ris-to-je-net'ik), a. [< Gr. 
fiepiar6f, verbal adj. of [tepi&v, divide (see meris- 
tem), + yfaeaig, generation: see genetic.'] Pro- 
duced by a meristem. 
merit (mer'it), n. [< ME. merite, meryte, maret, 
< OF. merite, P. merite = Pr. merit, merite = Sp. 
merito = Pg. It. merito,<. L. meritwm, that which 
one deserves, desert (good or bad); also, a 
ground of desert (service, kindness, benefit, 
or fault, blame, demerit), worth, value, impor- 
tance; neut. of meritus, pp. of merere, mereri 
(> OF. merir), deserve, be worthy of, earn, gain, 
3718 
merlin 
For strength from truth divided and from Just, 
Illaudable, naught merits but dispraise 
And Ignominy. Milton, P. L., vi. 382. 
Those best can bear reproof who merit praise. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, L 583. 
2. To deserve as a reward; earn by commend- 
able action or conduct. 
merk 3 t, and . An obsolete form of murk 1 . 
merk 4 t, '' and . An obsolete form of march*. 
merkett, . An obsolete form of market. 
merkint (mer'kin), . [Perhaps dim. of OF. 
merque, a tuft.] 1. A wig; a tuft or portion 
of false hair added to the natural hair. Hence 
2. A mop used in cleaning cannon. 
So many most noble Favours and Respects which I shall mer fcy t . An obsolete f orm of Mttffeyl . 
daily study to improve and merit. Howell, Letters, I. v. 34. gtj^' g ee mer l e l 
A man at best is incapable of meriting anything^from Merl ' an g us ( me r-lang'gus), n. [NL. (ML. mer- 
lingus), < F. merlan, a whiting: see merling.] 
A Cuvierian genus of gadoid fishes whose type 
is the common European whiting, M. vulgaris, 
and to whioh various limits have been assigned. 
To acquire merit, benefit, or merle 1 , merl (merl), n. [Early mod. E. also 
mearl; < ME. merle, < OF. merle, F. merle = 
God. 
3f. To reward. 
The king will merit it with gifts. 
Chapman, Iliad, ix. 259. 
=Syn. 1 and 2. See deserts, n. f 
II. intrans. ' 
profit. 
And yet he bode them do it, and they were bounde to 
obay, and meryted and deserued by their obedience. 
Sir T. More, Works, p. 496. 
And if in my poor death fair France may merit, 
Give me a thousand blows. Beau, and Ft. 
Does Tertullian think they [the Christians] merited by 
not being willing to lose their lives in the quarrels of Infi- 
dels? Milton, Ans. to Salmasius. 
plalld Sn 
acceptive, and apt to ap- 
work . 
B. Jonson, Case is Altered, ii. 4. 
get, acquire, buy, in military nse (sc. stipcndia) meritablet ( mer 'i-ta-bl), a. [< OF. meritable, < 
earn pay serve for pay; lit. receive as a share, U ^ "-, u ^ merft meri . 
akin to Gr. /tepof, fieptg, a part, share, division, . . ' 
,u<ipof, a part, lot, fate, destiny, puipa, lot, iiei- 
peaBai, share, divide. Cf. mercantile, mercenary, 
mercliant,mercy, etc., from the same ult. source.] 
1. That which is deserved; honor or reward due; meritedly (mer'i-ted-li), adv. In accordance 
recompense or consideration deserved. [Bare.] with merit; by merit; deservedly; worthily. 
We beleven of the day of Doom, and that every man merithal (mer'i-thal), . [NL. merithattus, < 
schalle have his Meryte, aftre he hathe disserved. Gr. fiepif (fiepi-), a part, + (fa/lof, a branch, 
Mandemlle, Travels, p. 135. twig.] In bot., same as internode. 
A dearer merit, not so deep a maim, . % . meriting! (mer'i-ting), p. a. Deserving. 
'Twere well to torture 
So meriting a traitor. B. Jonson, Sejanus, v. 10. 
meritmongert (mer'it-mung"ger), n. One who 
advocates the doctrine of human merit as en- 
titling man to divine rewards, or who depends 
on merit for salvation: used in contempt. 
Like as these merit-mongers doe, which esteeme them- 
selves after their merits. 
Latimer, Sermon, iii., On the Lord's Prayer. 
meritorious (mer-i-to'ri-us), a. [In older use 
meritory, q. v. ; = OF. meritoire, F. meritoire 
= Pr. meritori = Sp. Pg. It. meritorio, < L. meri- 
toriiis, of or belonging to the earning of money, 
that earns money, < merere, mereri, pp. meritus, 
earn : see merit. In the second sense, dependent 
more directly on merit.'} If. That earns money; 
hireling. B. Jonson. 2. Deserving of reward; 
worthy of praise or honor; possessing merit. 
And meritorvms shall that hand be call'd, 
Canonized and worshipp'd as a saint. 
Shak., K. John, iii. 1. 176. 
Have I deserved at your highness' hands. 
Shak., Rich. II., i. 3. 156. 
All power 
I give thee ; reign forever, and assume 
Thy merite. Milton, P. L. , iii. 319. 
2. The state or fact of deserving ; desert, good 
or bad; intrinsic ground of consideration or 
award: most commonly in the plural: as, to 
treat a person according to his merits. 
Here men may seen how synne hath his merite. 
Chaucer, Doctor's Tale, 1. 277. 
Nothing [no punishment] is great enough for 
Silius' merit. B. Jonson, Sejanus, ii. 1. 
Satan exalted sat, by merit raised 
To that bad eminence. Milton, P. L., ii. 6. 
Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe, 
Are lost on hearers that our merits know. 
Pope, Iliad, x. 294. 
Specifically 3. The state or fact of deserving 
well; good desert; worthiness of reward or 
consideration. 
You fool'd the lawyer, 
And thought it meritorious to abuse him. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, v. 2. 
Meritorious cognition. See cognition. 
Donne, Letters, xiv. meritoriously (mer-i-t-6'ri-us-li), adv. In a 
Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. meritorious manner; in such a manner as to 
deserve reward. 
meritoriousness (mer-i-to'ri-us-nes), 'ii. The 
state or quality of being meritorious, or of de- 
serving reward or honor. 
meritoryt (mer'i-to-ri), a. [< ME. meritory, < 
L. meritorius, that earns money: see meritori- 
ous.'] Deserving of reward ; meritorious. 
Pr. merle = Sp. merla = Pg. melro, merlo = It. 
merlo, merla = D. meerle = MLG. merle = G. 
dial, merle (MLG. also merlink, MHG. merlin), 
< L. merula, f., later also merulus, m., a black- 
bird.] The common European blackbird, Tur- 
dus merula or Merula vulgaris. See cut under 
blackbird. 
To walke and take the dewe by it was day, 
And heare the merle and mavise many one. 
Henrysun, Complaint of Creseide, 1. 24. 
Vernal Chaucer, whose fresh woods 
Throb thick with merle and mavis all the year. 
Lowell, Under the Willows. 
merle' 2 t, An obsolete form of marl 1 . 
merligoes, mirligoes (mer'li-goz), n. ["Per- 
haps q. [as if] merrily go, because objects seem 
to dance before the eyes" (Jamieson).] Dizzi- 
ness; vertigo. [Scotch.] 
My head 's sae dizzy with the mirligoes. 
Scott, Old Mortality, xxviii. 
merlin (mer'lin), n. [Early mod. E. also mer- 
line, marlin, merlion, marlion, marly on; < ME. 
merlone, merlion, marlyon, merlyon (also er- 
roneously merlinge), < OF. esmerillon, emerillon, 
F. emerillon = Pr. esmerilho = Sp. esmerejon 
= Pg. esmerilJiao = It. smeriglione, a merlin; 
aug. of OF. *esmerle = It. smerlo = OHG. 
smirl, MHG. smirle, G. schmerl, schmirl = 
Icel. smyrill (also D. smerlijn = MLG. smerle 
= MHG. smirlin, smerlink, smirlinc, G. schmer- 
iin), a merlin, < ML. smerillus, smei-lus, a mer- 
lin; appar., with unorig. initial * (developed 
in Rom.). < L. merula, a blackbird, merle: 
see merle'-.'} 1. A kind of hawk; a falcon of 
small size, belonging to the genus Falco, and 
to that section of the genus called JEsalm or 
Hypotriorchis. There are several species, the best- 
known of which is the European merlin, stone-falcon, or 
oft got without merit, and lost with- 
Shak., Othello, ii. 3. 270. 
Reputation is . 
out deserving. 
This letter hath more merit than one of more diligence, 
for I wrote it in my bed, and with much pain. 
Pope, B. of the L., v. 84. 
4. Good quality in general ; excellence. 
The great merit of Walter Scott's novels is their gener- 
ous and pure sentiment. J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. 316. 
5. That which deserves consideration or re- 
ward; ground of desert ; claim to notice or com- 
mendation: as, to enumerate the merits of a 
person, a book, or a scheme. 
How meritory is thilke dede 
Of charitee to clothe and fede 
The poore folke. Bower, Conf. Atnant., Prol. 
As to the first, it is meritory. Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
What a merit were it in death to take this poor maid 
from the world ! Shak., M. for M., iii. 1. 240. 
It was the merit of Montaigne to rise . . . into the meritott (mer'i-tot), n. [See merry-totter.'] See 
clear world of reality. Lecky, Relationism, 1. 113. | ne quotation. 
Meritot, In Chaucer, a Sport used by Children, by swing- 
ing themselves in Bell-ropes, or such-like, till they are 
1 merke *> " and "' Obsolete forms of 
6. pi. In law, the right and wrong of a case ; 
the strict legal or equitable rights of the parties, .g, 
as distinguished from questions of procedure 
and matters resting in judicial discretion or 
favor ; essential facts and principles that lead 
to an opinion clear of personal bias: as, to merk^ merke* (mark), . [Sc.: see mark*.] A 
judge a case on its merits.- Figure of merit, a nu- umt of mone y formerly m current use in Scot- 
merical coefficient of excellence in the performance of any 
instrument, as a chronometer, gun, etc. Merit Of con- 
dignity, merit Of congruity . See quotation under con- 
dignity, 2. Order for Merit, a Prussian order composed 
of two classes, military and civil. The first class was found- 
ed by Frederick the Great in 1740. The badge is a blue en- 
ameled cross adorned with the letter F., the words " pour 
le merite," and golden eagles. Since 1810 it has been given 
exclusively for distinction on the field. The second class 
(or second order) was founded by Frederick William IV. 
in 1842 for distinction in science and art. =SyTL^orth, 
etc. See deserts, n. 
merit (mer'it), v. [< ME. *meiiten, < OF. meri- 
ter, F. meriter = Sp. meritar = It. meritare, < L. obverse. Reverse. 
ineritare, earn, gain, serve for pay, freq. of me- stiver Merit of chariesii. 
rere earn, gain, merit: see merit, .] I. tram. land at)O ii sh ed, with the rest of the Scots cur- 
.. To deserve ; earn a right or incur a liability reno ^ ln 1707 _ It ^ two ^^ of , he 
to; be or become deserving ot: as, to merit re- or one eighteenth of the pound sterling (13Jd. English 
ward or punishment. money). See mark*, 4. 
Merlin (Falco asalon or sEsalon regulits~i. 
sparrow-hawk, F. regulus, F. cesalon, or F. Itthnfalco, one 
of the smallest of the European birds of prey, but very 
spirited. Though only 10 or 12 inches long, and thus not 
much larger than a thrush, it has been used in hawking 
for quails, larks, and other small game. The correspond- 
ing falcon of North America is Richardson's merlin, F. 
richardsoni, a near relative of the common pigeon-hawk 
of the same country, F. colmnbarius. 
The merlyon that paynyth 
Hymself fill ofte the larke for to seeke. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 339. 
The merlin is the least of all hawks, not much bigger 
than a black-bird. 
Holmes, Acad. of Arm., ii. 11, 57. (Nares.) 
2. A hardy, active pony, somewhat larger than 
the Shetla'nd, found in Wales. 
The county [Montgomery! was long famous for its hardy 
breed of small horses called merlins, which are still to be 
met with. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 789. 
