mercy

¹

[ mur-see ]

noun

, plural mer·cies

1. compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence:

   Have mercy on the poor sinner.

   Synonyms: tenderness, mildness, lenity, leniency, clemency, indulgence, forgiveness

   Antonyms: cruelty

2. the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing:

   an adversary wholly without mercy.

3. the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.
4. an act of kindness, compassion, or favor:

   She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.

5. something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing:

   It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened.

Mercy

²

[ mur-see ]

noun

1. a female given name.

mercy

/ ˈmɜːsɪ /

noun

1. compassionate treatment of or attitude towards an offender, adversary, etc, who is in one's power or care; clemency; pity
2. the power to show mercy

   to throw oneself on someone's mercy

3. a relieving or welcome occurrence or state of affairs

   his death was a mercy after weeks of pain

4. at the mercy of
   in the power of

Word History and Origins

Origin of mercy¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English merci, from Old French, earlier mercit, from Latin mercēd-, stem of mercēs “wages” ( Late Latin, Medieval Latin: “heavenly reward”), derivative of merc-, stem of merx “commodity, goods, merchandise”

Word History and Origins

Origin of mercy¹

C12: from Old French, from Latin mercēs wages, recompense, price, from merx goods

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. at the mercy of, entirely in the power of; subject to: Also at one's mercy.

   They were at the mercy of their captors.

More idioms and phrases containing mercy

see at the mercy of .

Example Sentences

“We will beat up anime kids. … We will bring the American family back to the woods, back to self-sufficiency. … We will oust illegal immigrants with zero mercy.”

From Salon

It opens with this epigraph: “I have always been an observer of myself. For years, at the mercy of others. Not anymore.”

From Los Angeles Times

He said the houses that ended up falling victim to the flames were virtually chosen at random — at the mercy of wherever embers happened to land, some jumping up to a mile ahead of the main fire.

From Los Angeles Times

Experts say it shows how users of DNA-testing services can find themselves "completely at the mercy" of such companies when it comes to protecting very sensitive data.

From BBC

"When you give your data to a company you are completely at their mercy and you have to be able to trust them," Prof Veliz said.

From BBC

Related Words

• benevolence
• blessing
• charity
• clemency
• forgiveness
• generosity
• goodwill
• grace
• leniency
• pity
• sympathy
• tolerance