Mercy

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Mercy \Mer"cy\ (m[~e]r"s[y^]), n.; pl. {Mercies}. [OE. merci, F.
     merci, L. merces, mercedis, hire, pay, reward, LL., equiv. to
     misericordia pity, mercy. L. merces is probably akin to
     merere 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.
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              Examples of justice must be made for terror to some;
              examples of mercy for comfort to others. --Bacon.
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     2. Compassionate treatment of the unfortunate and helpless;
        sometimes, favor, beneficence. --Luke x. 37.
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     3. Disposition to exercise compassion or favor; pity;
        compassion; willingness to spare or to help.
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              In whom mercy lacketh and is not founden. --Sir T.
                                                    Elyot.
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     4. A blessing regarded as a manifestation of compassion or
        favor.
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              The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
                                                    --2 Cor. i. 3.
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     {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.
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     Syn: See {Grace}.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  mercy
       n 1: leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person
            or agency charged with administering justice; "he threw
            himself on the mercy of the court" [syn: {clemency}, {mercifulness}]
       2: a disposition to be kind and forgiving; "in those days a
          wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband"
          [syn: {mercifulness}] [ant: {mercilessness}]
       3: the feeling that motivates compassion [syn: {mercifulness}]
       4: something for which to be thankful; "it was a mercy we got
          out alive"
       5: alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the
          distressed; "distributing food and clothing to the flood
          victims was an act of mercy"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  73 Moby Thesaurus words for "mercy":
     acceptance, act of grace, act of kindness, benefaction,
     beneficence, benefit, benevolence, benignancy, benignity, blessing,
     caritas, charity, clemency, clementness, commiseration, compassion,
     condolence, consideration, courtesy, easiness, easygoingness,
     favor, feeling, forbearance, forbearing, forgiveness, generosity,
     gentleness, good deed, good offices, good turn, goodwill, grace,
     graciousness, humaneness, humanity, indulgence, kind deed,
     kind offices, kindliness, kindly act, kindness, labor of love,
     laxness, lenience, leniency, lenientness, lenity, liberality,
     magnanimity, mercifulness, mildness, mitigation, mitzvah,
     moderateness, obligation, office, pardon, pathos, patience, pity,
     quarter, relief, reprieve, ruth, self-pity, service, softness,
     sympathy, tenderness, thoughtfulness, tolerance, turn
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Mercy
     compassion for the miserable. Its object is misery. By the
     atoning sacrifice of Christ a way is open for the exercise of
     mercy towards the sons of men, in harmony with the demands of
     truth and righteousness (Gen. 19:19; Ex. 20:6; 34:6, 7; Ps.
     85:10; 86:15, 16). In Christ mercy and truth meet together.
     Mercy is also a Christian grace (Matt. 5:7; 18:33-35).
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MERCY, crim. law. The total or partial remission of a punishment to which a 
  convict is subject. When the whole punishment is remitted, it is called a 
  pardon; (q.v.) when only a part of the punishment is remitted, it is 
  frequently a conditional pardon; or before sentence, it is called clemency 
  or mercy. Vide Rutherf. Inst. 224; 1 Kent, Com. 265; 3 Story, Const. Sec. 
  1488. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MERCY, Practice. To be in mercy, signifies to be liable to punishment at the 
  discretion of the judge. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  MERCY, n.  An attribute beloved of detected offenders.