Crossword Genius

Object following French sea pirate (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

merit

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'pirate' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.

'object following french sea' is the wordplay.
'object' becomes 'it' (pronoun for an inanimate object).
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'french sea' becomes 'mer' ('sea' in French).
'it' put after 'mer' is 'MERIT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for merit that I've seen before include "Excellence, worth" , "Have a right" , "Deserve; excellence" , "Worth; deserve" , "Earn" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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