Where does “mercy” come from?

mercy (Middle English) comes from Old French mercier, from Old French merci, from Latin mercēs, from Latin merx, from Proto-Italic *merks.

mercy (Middle English): Alternative form of mercien

Definitions

  1. Alternative form of mercien

Ancestry of “mercy”, step by step

mercy traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French mercier

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmercierto thank
2Old Frenchmercimercy; clemency
3Latinmercēspay, wages, reward
4Latinmerxmerchandise, commodity; goods, wares
5Proto-Italic*merks—

via Anglo-Norman merci

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Anglo-Normanmercimercy; clemency

Words derived from “mercy”

Every word from Proto-Italic *merks →Every word from Latin merx →Every word from Latin mercēs →