meriittien

Meriittien is the genitive plural form of the Finnish noun meriitti, which translates roughly to merit, credential, or an achievement that warrants recognition. The term can refer to intrinsic value or quality, as well as to a credential or qualification that entitles a person or a submission to consideration. In formal Finnish, meriittien is most often encountered in contexts involving evaluation, rewards, or admissions where decisions are described as based on merits.

In usage, meriittien appears in phrases such as meriittien perusteella (based on merits), meriittien mukaan (according to merits), and meriittien jakaminen (distribution of merits). The concept is common in discussions of selection processes, admissions, promotions, and awards, where authorities emphasize merit as a primary criterion rather than other factors. The term is also used in policy language to contrast merit-based approaches with criteria such as seniority or affiliation.

Related terms include meriitti (merit or credential), pätevyys (qualification or competence), and ansio (achievement or merit in a more everyday sense). In Finnish discourse, merit-based systems are sometimes described with the term meritocracy, which is rendered as meritoriokrati or merito­kratia in Finnish. Overall, meriittien functions as a linguistic tool to refer to the collective merits or the merits of individual items in evaluative contexts.

See also: meriitti, pätevyys, merito­kratia, ansio.