Where does “mercy” come from?
Mercy comes from Middle English mercy, from Old French mercier, from Latin merces meaning wage or price, ultimately from Proto-Italic merk-.
mercy (English): Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to...
Definitions
- Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to...
Ancestry of “mercy”, step by step
mercy traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English mercy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | mercy | Alternative form of mercien |
| 2 | Middle English | -ful | Appended to nouns to form adjectives denoting... |
| 3 | Old English | -ful | full of; -ful |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -fullaz | -ful |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fullaz | full; the whole, the entire |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |
via French Mercy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | Mercy | — |