Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗Expressing surprise or alarm.
Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another. · Forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate. · A tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion. · Instances of forbearance or forgiveness.
To feel mercy · To show mercy; to pardon or treat leniently because of mercy
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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "mercy"
},
"expansion": "Middle English mercy"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "xno",
"3": "merci"
},
"expansion": "Anglo-Norman merci"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fro",
"2": "merci"
},
"expansion": "Old French merci"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "mercēs",
"4": "",
"5": "wages, fee, price"
},
"expansion": "Latin mercēs (“wages, fee, price”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "mildheortnes"
},
"expansion": "Old English mildheortnes"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "merci"
},
"expansion": "French merci"
},
{
"name": "glossary",
"args": {
"1": "doublet"
},
"expansion": "doublet"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "merci",
"notext": "1"
},
"expansion": "merci"
}
],
"links": [
[
"mercy",
"mercy#Middle_English"
],
[
"merci",
"merci#Middle_English"
],
[
"merci",
"merci#Old_French"
],
[
"merci",
"merci#Old_French"
],
[
"mercit",
"mercit#Old_French"
],
[
"mercēs",
"merces#Latin"
],
[
"merx",
"merx#Latin"
],
[
"mildheortnes",
"mildheortnes#Old_English"
],
[
"merci",
"merci#French"
],
[
"merci",
"merci#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "intj",
"glosses": [
"Expressing surprise or alarm."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "478a135984abbd406659fad80494f519d1decfadaa142a8ca6f28772c5a5d739",
"rawRecordSha256": "8bad9148320042e7a235efe11737d2ffd08064b5ca26cab3bc6d3ca046f80bc7",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 316359
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another.",
"Forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate.",
"A tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion.",
"Instances of forbearance or forgiveness."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable",
"countable"
],
"recordId": "a9041dc72dfc602d74cb8254fa085cbb273a02715412f7effee68b5b43cf8d08",
"rawRecordSha256": "e2f22108ba40a8d82d430213edc8268e9ec41fecc964bb2511c31a3dd43bb226",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 316357
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To feel mercy",
"To show mercy; to pardon or treat leniently because of mercy"
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "e5f40b1fb52daeb7a1d662ff9cf6bacb2f0dd05cafff8cf415d20e8c265b880e",
"rawRecordSha256": "e42c8188bc7948eddff66cbf9fc160b06f41788be5b75e6585712cdb8aea61f4",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 316358
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 2,
"glosses": 0
}
}