merit

(countable) A claim to commendation or a reward.

(countable) A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.

(countable, uncountable) Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.

(uncountable, Buddhism, Jainism) The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment.

(uncountable, law) Usually in the plural form the merits: the substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, a lawsuit, etc., as opposed to technical matters such as the admissibility of evidence or points of legal procedure; (by extension) the overall good or bad quality, or rightness or wrongness, of some other thing.

(countable, obsolete) The quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment.