mercy: [12] Latin mercēs meant ‘payment, reward’. In the Christian era the notion of a ‘reward’ was taken up and reapplied metaphorically to the ‘compassion given freely by God to humankind’, and the word passed into Old French (in the form merci) with the broader sense ‘compassion’, and hence ‘forbearance from punishment’. English took it over and has continued to use it in much the same way, but its main role in modern French is as the word for ‘thank you’.
mercy (n.)
late 12c., "God's forgiveness of his creatures' offenses," from Old French mercit, merci (9c.) "reward, gift; kindness, grace, pity," from Latin mercedem (nominative merces) "reward, wages, pay hire" (in Vulgar Latin "favor, pity"), from merx (genitive mercis) "wares, merchandise" (see market (n.)). In Church Latin (6c.) applied to the heavenly reward of those who show kindness to the helpless.
Meaning "disposition to forgive or show compassion" is attested from early 13c. As an interjection, attested from mid-13c. In French largely superseded by miséricorde except as a word of thanks. Seat of mercy "golden covering of the Ark of the Covenant" (1530) is Tyndale's loan-translation of Luther's gnadenstuhl, an inexact rendering of Hebrew kapporeth, literally "propitiatory."
双语例句
1. The Emperor must realize that he has us at his mercy.
皇帝必须意识到我们任由他处置。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Ordinary people are at the mercy of faceless bureaucrats.
普通人的命运任凭那些平庸刻板的官僚们摆布。
来自柯林斯例句
3. They meant to finish her off, swiftly and without mercy.
他们打算毫不留情地迅速结果了她。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He's going to throw himself on the mercy of the court.
他准备听凭法庭发落。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Kelly prayed that God would judge her with mercy.
