MERCY

n. compassion, pity; charity; forgiveness; act of kindness; lenient sentence

Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French merci, from Medieval Latin merced-, merces, from Latin, "price paid, wages", from merc-, merx "merchandise") can refer both to compassionate behaviour on the part of those in power (e.g. mercy shown by a judge toward a convict) or on the part of a humanitarian third party (e.g. a mission of mercy aiming to treat war victims). Mercy is a term used to describe the leniency or compassion shown by one person to another, or a request from one person to another to be shown such leniency or compassion. One of the basic virtues of chivalry and Christian ethics, it is also related to concepts of justice and morality in behaviour between people. In India, compassion is known as karuna.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
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"
(synonym) clemency, mercifulness
(hypernym) lenience, leniency
(hyponym) commutation, re-sentencing
2. a disposition to be kind and forgiving; "in those days a wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband"
(synonym) mercifulness
(hypernym) humaneness
(hyponym) compassion, pity
3. the feeling that motivates compassion
(synonym) mercifulness
(hypernym) compassion, compassionateness
(hyponym) forgiveness
4. something for which to be thankful; "it was a mercy we got out alive"
(hypernym) blessing, boon
5. alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed; "distributing food and clothing to the flood victims was an act of mercy"
(hypernym) relief, succor, succour, ministration

(n.)
Forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary; clemency.
  

(n.)
Disposition to exercise compassion or favor; pity; compassion; willingness to spare or to help.
  

(n.)
Compassionate treatment of the unfortunate and helpless; sometimes, favor, beneficence.
  

(n.)
A blessing regarded as a manifestation of compassion or favor.
  

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

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; when only a part of the punishment is remitted, it is frequently a conditional pardon; or before sentence, it is called clemency or mercy.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.