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.
To be deserving or worthy.
To deserve, to earn.
A particular theory concerning the grounds and nature of rightness, wrongness, good, and evil.
A set of personal guiding principles for conduct or a general notion of how to behave, whether respectable or not.
A set of social rules, customs, traditions, beliefs, or practices which specify proper, acceptable forms of conduct.
Moral philosophy, the branch of philosophy which studies the grounds and nature of rightness, wrongness, good, and evil.
A morality play.
Recognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right and wrong; respect for and obedience to the rules of right conduct; the mental disposition or characteristic of behaving in a manner intended to produce morally good results.