Wordwyrt

mercy

/ˈmɜːsi/MUR-see
/ˈmɝsi/MUR-see

Meaningreward; payment

Common meaning: kindness to someone in your power

Journey through time

  1. Latinmerx, mercis‘goods, wares’
  2. Frenchmerci
  3. Middle Englishmercisource
  4. Englishmercy‘kindness to someone in your power’ · today

merc also in: merchantmercenarymarketcommerce

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin merx ‘goods, wares’.

Did you know (Latin merces meant…): our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry MERCY, p. 364 · dictionary scan

Did you know (Latin merx, "goods",…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry merx, p. 1134 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry MERCY, p. 364 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

commercemarketmercenarymerchant

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