promerit means to oblige; to confer a favour on. It carries an Arena rating of 1526, earned across 50 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, promerit ranks #2,511 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,707 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #6,474 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #6,727 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
Why “promerit” is a great word
PROMERIT — [Verb] To deserve or earn through prior service or specific action; in a secondary sense, to oblige by conferring a favor as a reward for such desert. From Latin *promeritus*, past participle of *promerere* ("to deserve"), from *pro-* ("before, forward") + *merere* ("to earn, deserve"). Unlike "merit," which often denotes a passive worthiness, or "oblige," which typically describes a simple act of binding courtesy, to promerit is to accumulate a ledger of due credit through exertion, or to discharge that debt with a gesture that is itself earned. It is the craftsman’s calloused hand awaiting its wage, the soldier’s long vigil earning a night’s respite, and the patron’s boon bestowed not as charity but as a settled account—the quiet machinery of a transactional world, ensuring every kindness has its precedent.
Etymology
From Latin promeritus, past participle of promerere (“to deserve”), from pro (“before”) + merere (“to merit”).
verb
- To oblige; to confer a favour on.e.g.“O God, while thou dost thus promerit us by thy Providence, let us not wrong thee by distrust” — 1612–1626, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in [Contemplations vpon the Principall Passages of the Holy Storie], volume (please specify |volume=II, V, or VI), London, →OCLC:
- To deserve; to procure by merit.e.g.“Beneficence and communication do not forget, for with such hostes God is promerited.” — 1582, Gregory Martin, transl., The New Testament of Jesus Christ, Translated Faithfully into English, Reims: John Fogny, Hebrews 13:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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