demerit: [14] A demerit may be virtually the opposite of a merit, but the word was not formed, as might be supposed, by adding the prefix de-, denoting oppositeness or reversal, to merit. Its distant ancestor was Latin demeritum, from the verb demereri ‘deserve’, where the de- prefix meant not ‘opposite of’ but ‘completely’ (as it does too in, for example, denude and despoil).
Add this de- to mereri ‘deserve’ and you get ‘deserve thoroughly’. However, at some point in the Middle Ages the prefix began to be reinterpreted as ‘opposite’, and medieval Latin demeritum came to mean ‘fault’ – the sense that reached English via French démérite.
demerit (n.)
late 14c., from Old French desmerite "blame, demerit" (Modern French démérite), from des- "not, opposite" (see dis-) + merite "merit" (see merit (n.)). Latin demereri meant "to merit, deserve," from de- in its completive sense. But Medieval Latin demeritum meant "fault." Both senses existed in the Middle French form of the word. Meaning "penalty point in school" is attested from 1862.
实用例句
1. They might get a demerit.
他们可能会被记大过.
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2. TV has its merit and demerit.
电视有长处也有短处.
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3. What do you think about your merit and demerit? Can you give some example?
你认为你有哪些优点、缺点? 能不能各举一些例子说明 呢 ?
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4. However, a most important feature of our browser covers the demerit of the speed performance.
但是, 最重要的特征包括浏览速度表现差劲.(包括?意思全反了. )
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5. If this matter was known by the teachers in school, I would possibly get a demerit.
