meritare

Meritare is an Italian verb meaning to deserve or to merit. It is transitive and used with a direct object: merite qualcosa (to deserve something) as in Questo premio merita attenzione or La tua idea merita di essere presa in considerazione. It can also govern an infinitive clause with di: Questo film merita di essere visto. The verb is regular (-are) and is conjugated accordingly: io merito, tu meriti, lui/lei merita, noi meritiamo, voi meritate, loro meritano; compound tenses are formed with avere: ho meritato, hai meritato, ha meritato, etc.

Meritare derives from Latin meritus, the past participle of mereri “to earn, deserve.” It has cognates in other Romance languages, such as French mériter and Spanish merecer. Related forms include merito (noun: merit), meritevole (deserving, worthy), and meritato (deserved). Common collocations include meritevole di attenzione, premio meritato, and merito proprio.

Usage notes and translations: meritate expresses a value judgment about what is appropriate, deserved, or worthy of reward or recognition. It is common in evaluative, formal, and literary contexts, as well as in everyday speech. In English, it is usually translated as “to deserve” or “to merit,” with “to be worthy of” as a close alternative. See also merito, meritevole for related meanings.