Meaning

noun leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice

noun a disposition to be kind and forgiving

noun the feeling that motivates compassion

originFrom Middle English mercy, merci, from Anglo-Norman merci (compare continental Old French merci, mercit), from Latin mercēs (“wages, fee, price”), from merx (“wares, merchandise”). Displaced native Old English mildheortnes (literally "mildheartedness"). Cognate with French merci, whence the doublet merci.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0