mercy
noun
- broad term that refers to benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈmɜːsi/ / /ˈmɝsi/
intj
Etymology: From Middle English mercy, merci, from Anglo-Norman merci (compare continental Old French merci, mercit), from Latin mercēs (“wages, fee, price”), from merx (“wares, merchandise”). Displaced native Old English mildheortnes (literally "mildheartedness"). Cognate with French merci, whence the doublet merci.
- Expressing surprise or alarm.
“Mercy! Look at the state of you!”
“'Three o'clock if possible,' he replied brazenly. 'Six o'clock in any case.' Clifton gave a little shriek of young-ladylike dismay. 'Mercy! Today?' she exclaimed. 'Why, you dear creature, do you know—' 'I know what you can do when you like,' he got in.”
name
Etymology: Etymology tree French Mercybor. English Mercy Borrowed from French Mercy.
- A surname from French.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English mercy, merci, from Anglo-Norman merci (compare continental Old French merci, mercit), from Latin mercēs (“wages, fee, price”), from merx (“wares, merchandise”). Displaced native Old English mildheortnes (literally "mildheartedness"). Cognate with French merci, whence the doublet merci.
- Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another.
“She took mercy on him and quit embarrassing him.”
- Forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate.
“Have mercy on the poor and assist them if you can.”
“He despaired of God's mercy in the same fact, where this presumed of it; he by a decollation of all hope annihilated his mercy, this by an immoderancy thereof destroyed his justice”
- A tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion.
“Mercy is one of his many virtues.”
- Instances of forbearance or forgiveness.
“1982, Bible (NKJV), Psalm 40:11a Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord”
- A blessing; something to be thankful for.
“It was a mercy that we were not inside when the roof collapsed”
- A children's game in which two players stand opposite with hands grasped and twist each other's arms until one gives in.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English mercy, merci, from Anglo-Norman merci (compare continental Old French merci, mercit), from Latin mercēs (“wages, fee, price”), from merx (“wares, merchandise”). Displaced native Old English mildheortnes (literally "mildheartedness"). Cognate with French merci, whence the doublet merci.
- To feel mercy
“I despised her; but I mercied her, too, and gave her sweet berries to eat, and led her to my lodge, and said to my best wife, ' Get up from my best skin, for the white squaw is a guest, and is weary.'”
“At another time, forgetting "his verse," he attempted part of the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, by repeating, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be mercied!"”
- To show mercy; to pardon or treat leniently because of mercy
“In the middle of the room is a young Infanta intended for Marguerite Theresa, born in 1651, daughter of Philip the fourth, whose portrait Velasquez took in 1658, to send to Leopold, who had just been elected Emperor of Germanyd and who mercied her in 1666.”
“Remember that kid that kept yelling that his father was mercied?” “Mercied?” - “The kid that kept saying his father was killed?”