mercy
/ˈməːsi
/noun (plural mercies) [mass noun]
1Compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm: the boy was screaming and begging for mercy [count noun]: the mercies of God...
- The person with the lower voice is in the authority position, in that she is the one causing harm and from whom mercy is begged.
- There are instances in which Mohammed behaved harshly and unjustly in his dealings with people and without mercy towards his enemies.
- He metes out justice without mercy, with no compassion for any man, an insult to your grandfather's legacy, and your father's.
Synonyms
leniency, lenience, clemency, compassion, grace, pity, charity, forgiveness, forbearance, quarter, humanity, humaneness, humanitarianism;
mildness, soft-heartedness, tender-heartedness, kindness, sympathy, liberality, indulgence, tolerance, generosity, magnanimity, beneficence
1.1 [count noun] An event to be grateful for, because it prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering: his death was in a way a mercy...
- Consistency has never been his forte, so perhaps we should be grateful for the mercies this album provides.
- The Blues, experiencing troubled times, are grateful for any mercies these days and they gratefully accepted the four points for a victory that nudges them ahead of Glasgow in the Celtic League.
- They are not killed, as are Easy Rider's dynamic duo, but death would seem a mercy in the face of the fate society seems to have in store for them.
Synonyms
blessing, godsend, boon, favour, piece/stroke of luck
1.2 [as modifier] (Especially of a journey or mission) performed out of a desire to relieve suffering: mercy missions to refugees caught up in the fighting...
- Philomena Smyth said the walk was the first fund-raising activity for the mercy mission.
- Noreen took her 10-year-old grand-daughter on the mercy mission.
- The aid worker, who quit the army in 1992 to become a civilian engineering contractor, revealed how he turned down a well-paid job in Portugal to join the mercy mission.
exclamation archaic
Used in expressions of surprise or fear: ‘Mercy me!’ uttered Mrs Diggory...
- Oh and back to the skimpy caribana costumes. lawd a mercy!
- Ah mean is it too much to ask for even a ‘throw your hands in the air’ a few ‘lawd a mercy!’
Phrases
at the mercy of
be thankful (or grateful) for small mercies
have mercy on (or upon)
leave someone/thing to the mercy of
throw oneself on someone's mercy
Origin
Middle English: from Old French merci 'pity' or 'thanks', from Latin merces, merced- 'reward', in Christian Latin 'pity, favour, heavenly reward'.
In the Latin of the early Christian Church, merces, which had meant simply ‘reward’ in classical times, came to be used for ‘heavenly reward’ and also ‘pity, favour’. These are the senses in which mercy first appears in the Middle Ages. The phrase to be thankful for small mercies is first recorded in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Heart of Midlothian, published in 1818.