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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

mercy.

Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈmɜːsi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmɝsi/General-American
  1. Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another.

    uncountable
    She took mercy on him and quit embarrassing him.
  2. Forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate.

    uncountable
    Have mercy on the poor and assist them if you can.
  3. A tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion.

    uncountable
    Mercy is one of his many virtues.
  4. Instances of forbearance or forgiveness.

    countable
  5. A blessing; something to be thankful for.

    countable
    It was a mercy that we were not inside when the roof collapsed
  6. A children's game in which two players stand opposite with hands grasped and twist each other's arms until one gives in.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈmɜːsi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmɝsi/General-American
  1. To feel mercy

  2. To show mercy; to pardon or treat leniently because of mercy

Where this word comes from

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.

intj/ˈmɜːsi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmɝsi/General-American
  1. Expressing surprise or alarm.

    Mercy! Look at the state of you!
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.