What is "mercy"

Mercy \Mer"cy\ (m[~e]r"s[y^]), n.; pl. Mercies. [OE. merci, F. merci, L. merces, mercedis, hire, pay, reward, LL., equiv. to misericordia pity, mercy. L. merces is probably akin to merere to deserve, acquire. See Merit, and cf. Amerce.]

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

   Examples of justice must be made for terror to some; examples of mercy for comfort to others.
   --Bacon.

2. Compassionate treatment of the unfortunate and helpless; sometimes, favor, beneficence.
   --Luke x. 37.

3. Disposition to exercise compassion or favor; pity; compassion; willingness to spare or to help.

   In whom mercy lacketh and is not founden.
   --Sir T. Elyot.

4. A blessing regarded as a manifestation of compassion or favor.

   The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
   --2 Cor. i. 3.

   Mercy seat (Bib.), the golden cover or lid of the Ark of the Covenant. See Ark, 2.

   Sisters of Mercy (R. C. Ch.),a religious order founded in Dublin in the year 1827. Communities of the same name have since been established in various American cities. The duties of those belonging to the order are, to attend lying-in hospitals, to superintend the education of girls, and protect decent women out of employment, to visit prisoners and the sick, and to attend persons condemned to death.

   To be at the mercy of, to be wholly in the power of.

   Syn: See Grace.

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.\n

\nMeaning "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 In French largely superseded by miséricorde except as a word of thanks.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."

n. 1 (context uncountable English) relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another 2 (context uncountable English) forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate. 3 (context uncountable English) A tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion 4 (context countable English) Instances of forbearance or forgiveness. 5 A blessing, something to be thankful for. 6 (context phrasal English) subjugation, power. vb. (cx obsolete English) To thank.

1. n. leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice; "he threw himself on the mercy of the court" [syn: clemency, mercifulness]

2. a disposition to be kind and forgiving; "in those days a wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband" [syn: mercifulness] [ant: mercilessness]

3. the feeling that motivates compassion [syn: mercifulness]

4. something for which to be thankful; "it was a mercy we got out alive"

5. alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed; "distributing food and clothing to the flood victims was an act of mercy"

Mercy ( Middle English, from Anglo-French merci, from Medieval Latin merced-, merces, from Latin, "price paid, wages", from merc-, merxi "merchandise") is a broad term that refers to benevolence, forgiveness and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social and legal contexts.

The concept of a "Merciful God" appears in various religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Performing acts of mercy as a component of religious beliefs is also emphasized through actions such as the giving of alms, and care for the sick and Works of Mercy.

In the social and legal context, mercy may refer both to compassionate behavior 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 leniency or compassion. It may also mean:

Mercy is a 2000 erotic thriller film directed by Damian Harris and starring Ellen Barkin. The movie was based on a novel written by David L. Lindsey.

Mercy (Abigail Mercy Wright) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Mercy is the sixth studio recorded album of New Zealand Dub band, Salmonella Dub released in 2004, the year after the release of their album One Drop East.

This special edition consists of nine songs, recorded at the same time as the One Drop East sessions, featuring remixes of One Drop East songs and some guest appearances. The Mad Professor remix of "Mercy" was originally intended to be released on One Drop East but was not completed in time.

Many of the tracks are more upbeat than their One Drop East counterparts, such as the Drum 'n' Bass version of "Ez On" remixed by Concord Dawn. However, the album retains Salmonella Dub's distinctive style and is somewhat reminiscent of their earlier work

Mercy is the second album by the Burden Brothers which was released on October 31, 2006 by Kirtland Records.

The album was released 2 weeks earlier, on October 17, in digital format on iTunes and other download sites.

Mercy is a popular children's game of strength, skill and endurance in Britain, Canada, Pakistan, India, and the USA, among other countries. The game is played by two players who grasp each other's hands (with interlocked fingers). The aim is to twist the opponents hands or bend the fingers until the opponent surrenders.

Mercy is a 1987 hard rock album by Steve Jones. It was the first solo album from Jones, a former member of the Sex Pistols. The single "Mercy" was used in a Miami Vice episode called "Stone's War" and was also featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album. The song "With You or Without You" was used in, and is on the soundtrack for, Jonathan Demme's 1986 film Something Wild.

Mercy is a 1995 independent thriller starring John Rubinstein and Sam Rockwell, and written and directed by Richard Shepard. It was filmed in Queens, New York City. The film received an R rating by the MPAA for violence, adult situations, adult language, sexual situations.

In cryptography, Mercy is a tweakable block cipher designed by Paul Crowley for disk encryption.

The block size is 4096 bits—unusually large for a block cipher, but a standard disk sector size. Mercy uses a 128-bit secret key, along with a 128-bit non-secret tweak for each block. In disk encryption, the sector number would be used as a tweak. Mercy uses a 6-round Feistel network structure with partial key whitening. The round function uses a key-dependent state machine which borrows some structure from the stream cipher WAKE, with key-dependent S-boxes based on the Nyberg S-boxes also used in AES.

Scott Fluhrer has discovered a differential attack that works against the full 6 rounds of Mercy. This attack can even be extended to a seven-round variant.

Mercy is an American pop group from Florida. Mercy released a hit single " Love (Can Make You Happy)", which soared to #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and also peaked at #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Love (Can Make You Happy)" was written by Jack Sigler, Jr., and this single, which was released in April 1969, reached over one million sales on July 15, and was awarded a gold record by the R.I.A.A., but was not given the actual award until October 2009.

"Love (Can Make You Happy)" was originally recorded on the small Tampa, Florida based Sundi record label, at which time it was also featured in the movie, Fireball Jungle. The B-side of the Sundi single was entitled "Fire Ball".

During the single's fast fame, an album was also released (album cover showing three girls) by a group calling themselves "The Mercy" that included the Sundi recording and several other songs that were not recorded by any of the original Mercy members. Litigation quickly ensued and this album was banned from distribution.

The song was again (re-recorded) on the Warner Brothers label (with the addition of new band members). The Warner Brothers album entitled Love Can Make You Happy peaked at #38 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Mercy had one other Billboard Hot 100 hit, the song " Forever", which reached #79 in June 1969.

Sigler earned BMI's award recognizing over two million airplays.

The band is still touring, with Sigler (the original lead vocalist and founder of the group). Mercy released their latest EP on iTunes in 2009.

"Mercy" is a song performed by Welsh singer Duffy, released as the second single from her debut studio album, Rockferry (2008). Co-written by Duffy and Steve Booker and produced by Booker, it was released worldwide in 2008 to critical acclaim and unprecedented chart success. As Duffy's first international release, the song is credited with firmly establishing her career and is now considered her signature song. "Mercy" received comparisons to Duffy's previous single, " Rockferry". Critical reviewers of "Mercy" noted similarities between the song to releases by Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and The Supremes, as well as contemporaries such as fellow British singer Amy Winehouse. "Mercy" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 2008, remaining at the top of the chart for five weeks. The single also topped the charts in Austria, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and Turkey, and peaked within the top five of the charts in Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

"Mercy" was nominated for several awards in 2008, including the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 51st Grammy Awards. Well received by the public, "Mercy" went on to become the third-best-selling single of 2008 in the United Kingdom, with sales of over 500,000 copies in the UK that year. The song achieved worldwide chart success, with Duffy attributing this to the fact that "everyone is searching for liberty ... from themselves or from the world they’ve created around them" and "everyone would like to be set free". It is Duffy's best-selling single to date.

The song has been covered several times since its original release, most notably by the cast of American musical television series Glee as well as by both The Fratellis and OneRepublic on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. The Glee version charted on the UK Singles Chart and in Ireland, and Duffy herself performed the song for the Live Lounge. The song was performed live at various music festivals as well as on Duffy's 2008–09 tour. The main-release music video, directed by Daniel Wolfe, has been viewed on video sharing website YouTube over 60 million times.

"Mercy" is the fourth single written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder for OneRepublic's debut album Dreaming Out Loud. It was released as the fourth single of that album.

Mercy is a medical drama television series which aired on NBC from September 23, 2009, to May 12, 2010. The series initially aired on Wednesday at 8:00 pm (ET), as part of the 2009 fall season, but was pushed back to 9:00 pm in April.

On October 23, 2009, Mercy was picked up for a full 22-episode first season. On May 14, 2010, NBC announced that Mercy had been cancelled after one season due to low ratings.

Mercy (1993) is an American graphic novel, written by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Paul Johnson, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. It tells the tale of bitter, cynical Joshua Rose. While in a coma after a stroke, he finds himself drifting through states of Limbo. There he witnesses the personification of Mercy battling many of the personal demons and afflictions of mankind, including himself. Despite his initial hostility toward her, he finally comes to accept and appreciate her qualities.

Mercy is the second full-length album by American rock band Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, released on March 10, 2009. The band worked with famed U2 producer Daniel Lanois on this album and although he originally was slated for only a small selection of songs, the band later decided to enlist his talents for the entire album. Some descriptive highlights on Mercy include the title track, a slow burning ballad that highlights DeLuca's falsetto and is backed by UK based band Keane, "I Trust You to Kill Me" — a driving dobro and piano centered plea, and the hard rock "Save Yourself", which was used for the promo of the television movie 24: Redemption.

DeLuca started his North America tour promoting this album upon its release on March 10.

Mercy is a 2012 German drama film directed by Matthias Glasner. The film was shown in competition at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012. The film is about a German couple and their teenage son who emigrate to the north of Norway.

"Mercy" is a song by American hip hop GOOD Music rappers Kanye West, Big Sean and Pusha T along with their Def Jam label-mate, southern rapper 2 Chainz. The song, released April 3, 2012, serves as the lead single from the compilation album Cruel Summer (2012). The song's production was handled by Lifted, with additional production from West, Mike Dean and Mike Will Made It, and additional instrumentation from Hudson Mohawke. The song heavily samples the dancehall song "Dust a Sound Boy" by Super Beagle. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics who praised the bombastic production, the varying quality of the verses, and the wordplay of the individual rappers.

The song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and hit number one on both the US Billboard Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The song has since been certified triple Platinum for three million digital sales, and has sold over two million copies in the US as of October 2012. A music video directed by Australian director Nabil Elderkin was released on June 6, 2012. The highly stylized video shows a long take of all four rappers featured on the song, along with other GOOD Music recording artists such as Cyhi the Prynce, Kid Cudi, Mr. Hudson and Teyana Taylor in cameos. The video features the rappers giving their verses and dancing around, with deliberate editing to make it appear as if they are disappearing and reappearing behind walls. The video received positive reviews from critics.

West performed his portion of the song at the 2012 Watch the Throne Tour, and 2 Chainz, Pusha and Big Sean performed the track during Sean's setlist at the 2012 Summer Jam festival. The song was performed by all four artists at the 2012 BET Awards, with West substituting his verse from "Mercy" with his verses from " Cold" and " New God Flow". Complex Magazine named the song the best song of 2012. The song received two nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance at the 55th Grammy Awards which were held in February 2013.

Mercy is a non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated beverage marketed as a preventative for hangovers and alcohol flush.

Mercy is a 2014 American supernatural horror film written by Matt Greenberg and directed by Peter Cornwell and is loosely based on the short story, "Gramma", by Stephen King. It stars Chandler Riggs, Joel Courtney, Shirley Knight, Mark Duplass, Dylan McDermott and Frances O'Connor. It was produced by Jason Blum for his Blumhouse Productions banner and McG. The film was released on October 7, 2014, straight to video by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Mercy is a 2012 song, written by John Alagía and Dave Matthews from Away from the World, the eighth studio album released by the Dave Matthews Band. The song was selected to be the lead single off of the album.

mercy is the eleventh album by Meredith Monk, released on October 29, 2002 through ECM New Series.

"Mercy" is a song by English rock band Muse from their seventh album, Drones. It was released as the second single from the album on 18 May 2015.

Mercy is a 2009 American independent romantic drama film directed by Patrick Hoelck and written by Scott Caan, who also serves as lead actor and producer.

Mercy (Spanish: Misericordia) is a 1953 Mexican drama film directed by Zacarías Gómez Urquiza and starring Sara García, Carmen Montejo and Anita Blanch.

Mercy is a not-for-profit Catholic health care organization located in the Midwestern United States with headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Serving millions annually, Mercy is the seventh largest Catholic health care system in the United States and named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2016 by Truven. Mercy was founded in 1871 by Sisters of Mercy as part of the communal support and developed as part of their mission. Currently Mercy serves communities across four states with 45 acute care and specialty (heart, children's orthopedic and rehab) hospitals and more than 700 physician practices and outpatient facilities. Mercy employs 40,000 employees and more than 2,000 physicians.

Mercy is the third studio album by American punk rock band Planes Mistaken for Stars released in 2006, and was the final album of new material before the band's 2008 disbandment. After several releases on No Idea Records, the band signed to Abacus Recordings — a short-lived heavy metal imprint of Century Media Records that also featured Ion Dissonance and Sick of It All. Guitarist Gared O’Donnell commented on the transition between labels, stating: "Right after Up in Them Guts [2004] came out, other labels expressed interest. We made the decision to do something different, and No Idea backed us up. They said, 'Listen, you've hit the ceiling with what we can do for you. If you want to go to another label for the next record, you have our blessing.'" Mercy was produced by the Seattle-based producer Matt Bayles ( Botch, Isis, Mastodon) and was officially released through Abacus on October 3, 2006.

In 2015, Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon's hardcore label Deathwish Inc. reissued Mercy. This version was remastered by Brad Boatwright ( Bane, Old Man Gloom, Code Orange) with the original 1/2-inch tapes and features revamped artwork and packaging.

Upon release in 2006, the album was met with generally favorable reviews. Sam Sutherland of Canada's Exclaim! magazine said the album is, "Gritty, unrefined post-punk that trashes around all over the lines that separate punk, hardcore, and good old rock'n'roll, Mercy is awash in spastic drumming, off-kilter riffs, and some of the finest throaty bellowing this side of Gainesville." Ned Raggett of AllMusic said, "[...] the compelling impact of this album is not merely what it synthesizes but how it delivers the results — whatever their emo roots were, lumping these guys in with Panic! At the Disco would be pretty ridiculous." Among other tracks, both Sutherland and Raggett praised Mercy's opening and closing tracks, "One Fucked Pony" and "Penitence" respectively. Sutherland noted "One Fucked Pony"'s stylistic change from the band's usual screamo sound on past records to stoner rock similar to Kyuss or Fu Manchu set a tone for the record, while observing that "Penitence" was "one of the most interesting sonic departures" on the album. Raggett described Gared O'Donnell's vocals on "One Fucked Pony" as "barking in a tortured but defiant rasp while the band finds a good intersection between sprawling boogie and tense, trebly riffs, not to mention just slowing down to a total crawl at the drop of a hat," and that the acoustic closer "Penitence" helped Mercy to "seem like a massive epic."