demerit

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A quality of being inadequate; a disadvantage, a fault.

   “[W]hatever they acquire by their Induſtry or Ingenuity […] ſhould be as much their Property, as any diviſions of Land or of Stock that are made to the Sons; and the Poſſeſſion as ſecure, unleſs forfeited by any demerit or offence againſt the cuſtoms of the Family, which grow with time to be the Orders of this little State.”

   “They see no merit or demerit in any man or any action.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A mark given for bad conduct to a person attending an educational institution or serving in the army.

   “A few of you have followed in the path of the perfect West Point graduate, Robert E. Lee, who never received a single demerit in four years. Some of you followed in the path of the imperfect graduate, Ulysses S. Grant, who had his fair share of demerits, and said the happiest day of his life was "the day I left West Point." (Laughter.)”

3. (countable, uncountable)That which one merits or deserves, either of good or ill; desert.

   “I fall to riſe, mount to thy maker, ſpirit, /. Leaue here thy body, death ha's her demerit.”

verb

1. (archaic, transitive)To deserve.

   “You hold that every sin is an infinite evil, demeriting endless punishment.”

2. (archaic, transitive)To depreciate or cry down.

   “Faith by her own dignity and worthiness doth not demerit justice and righteousness; but receiveth and embraceth the same offered unto us in the gospel […]”