Merit System Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

merit system American

noun

1. a system or policy whereby people are promoted or rewarded on the basis of ability and achievement rather than because of seniority, quotas, patronage, or the like.

merit system British

noun

1. the system of employing and promoting civil servants solely on the basis of ability rather than patronage Compare spoils system

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of merit system

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The restored merit system will apply to freshmen entering the school in the fall of 2023.

From Seattle Times

Administrations in both parties have sought workarounds to ease hiring in recent years, getting permission from Congress and the Office of Personnel Management to forgo the competitive merit system.

From Washington Post

These are the people who love you, or at least they’re supposed to, and being judged a “dropout with no real desire to move forward” puts that love on a merit system.

From Washington Post

“The merit system of making appointments is in its essence as democratic and American as the common school system itself,” Teddy Roosevelt remarked in 1901.

From New York Times

They also said they were required to wear scrubs while the male nurse was allowed to wear tactical gear, and that the disparities were not the result of a seniority or merit system.

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.