Mercy, n.; pl. Mercies.
Etymology: [OE. merci, F. merci, L. merces, mercedis, hire, pay, reward, LL., equiv. to misericordia pity, mercy. L. merces is probmerere to deserve, acquire. See Merit, and cf. Amerce.]
1. Forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary; clemency. Examples of justice must be made for terror to some; examples of mercy for comfort to others. Bacon.
2. Compassionate treatment of the unfortunate and helpless; sometimes, favor, beneficence. Luke x. 37.
3. Disposition to exercise compassion or favor; pity; compassion; willingness to spare or to help. In whom mercy lacketh and is not founden. Sir T. Elyot.
4. A blessing regarded as a manifestation of compassion or favor. The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 2 Cor. i. 3. Mercy seat (Bib.), the golden cover or lid of the Ark of the Covenant. See Ark, 2. -- Sisters of Mercy (R. C. Ch.),a religious order founded in Dublin in the year 1827. Communities of the same name have since been established in various American cities. The duties of those belonging to the order are, to attend lying-in hospitals, to superintend the education of girls, and protect decent women out of employment, to visit prisoners and the sick, and to attend persons condemned to death. -- To be at the mercy of, to be wholly in the power of.
1 more senses
Syn. -- See Grace.
Shades of meaning
Mercy is the exercise of less severity than one deserves, or in a more extended sense, the granting of kindness or favor beyond what one may rightly claim. Grace is favor, kindness, or blessing shown to the undeserving; forgiveness, mercy, and pardon are exercised toward the ill-deserving. Pardon remits the outward penalty which the offender deserves; forgiveness dismisses resentment or displeasure from the heart of the one offended; mercy seeks the highest possible good of the offender. There may be mercy without pardon, as in the mitigation of sentence, or in all possible alleviation of necessary severity; there may be cases where pardon would not be mercy, since it would encourage to repetition of the offense, from which timely punishment might have saved. Mercy is also used in the wider sense of refraining from harshness or cruelty toward those who are in one's power without fault of their own; as, they besought the robber to have mercy. Clemency is a colder word than mercy, and without its religious associations, signifying mildness and moderation in the use of power where severity would have legal or military, rather than moral sanction; it often denotes a habitual mildness of disposition on the part of the powerful, and is matter rather of good nature or policy than of principle. Leniency or lenity denotes an easy-going avoidance of severity; these words are more general and less magisterial than clemency; we should speak of the leniency of a parent, the clemency of a conqueror. Compare pity.
Prepositions
The mercy of God to or toward sinners; have mercy on or upon one.