deficiency vs merit

deficiency

noun
  • Inadequacy or incompleteness. 

  • An insufficiency, especially of something essential to health. 

  • The codimension of a linear system in the corresponding complete linear system. 

  • The amount by which the number of double points on a curve is short of the maximum for curves of the same degree. 

merit

verb
  • To be deserving or worthy. 

  • To deserve, to earn. 

noun
  • 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. 

  • A claim to commendation or a reward. 

  • A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence. 

  • Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward. 

  • 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. 

How often have the words deficiency and merit occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )