mercé

See also: merce, mérce, mercê, mērce, mērcē, and Mercè

Catalan

Noun

mercé f (plural mercés)

1. (Valencia) Alternative spelling of mercè

Galician

Alternative forms

• mercê (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mercee (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin mercēdem, accusative of mercēs (“wages, fee, price”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [meɾˈθe], (western) [meɾˈse]

Noun

mercé m (plural mercés)

1. mercy
2. gift, reward

   Synonyms: don, graza

Related terms

• Mercé
• mercedario
• vosa mercé

 

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “mercee”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “mercee”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mercé”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mercé”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mercé”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

Clipping of mercede. Doublet of mersì.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /merˈt͡ʃe/^*
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: mer‧cé

Noun

mercé f (invariable)

1. (archaic) recompense

   Synonyms: mercede, premio, ricompensa

   • 1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XX”, in Purgatorio‎^[1], lines 37–39; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata‎^[2], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Non fia sanza mercé la tua parola,
     s’io ritorno a compiér lo cammin corto
     di quella vita ch’al termine vola […]

     Not without recompense shall be thy word, if I return to finish the short journey of that life which is flying to its end."

2. (archaic, rare) merit

   Synonyms: mercede, merito

3. (dated) help, mercy, grace

   Synonyms: aiuto, grazia, pietà

   mercé di ― by grace of

   essere alla mercé di qualcuno ― to be at someone's mercy

   • 1316–c. 1321, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XV”, in Paradiso‎^[3], lines 49, 52–54; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata‎^[4], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     […] Grato e lontano digiuno,
     […]
     solvuto hai, figlio, dentro a questo lume
     in ch’io ti parlo, mercé di colei
     ch’a l’alto volo ti vestì le piume.

     Hunger long and grateful you have appeased, my son, within this light in which I speak to you, by grace of her who to this lofty flight with plumage clothed you.

   • 1349–1353, Giovanni Boccaccio, “Giornata decima – Novella quarta”, in Decameron; republished as Aldo Francesco Massera, editor, Il Decameron‎^[5], Bari: Laterza, 1927:

     Voi, la vostra mercé, avete onorato il mio convito, ed io voglio onorar voi alla persesca, mostrandovi la piú cara cosa che io abbia nel mondo o che io debba aver mai.

     You, [by] your grace, have honored my banquet, and I wish to honor you in the Persian way, by showing you what I hold most dear in this world and ever will.

4. (dated) thanks to, by way of
   • 1336–1374, Francesco Petrarca, “CXXVIII — Italia mia, benché ’l parlar sia indarno”, in Il Canzoniere, lines 49–54; republished as Daniele Ponchiroli, editor, Turin: publ. Giulio Einaudi, 1964:

     Cesare taccio che per ogni piaggia
     fece l’erbe sanguigne
     di lor vene, ove ’l nostro ferro mise.
     Or par, non so per che stelle maligne,
     che ’l cielo in odio n’aggia:
     vostra mercé […]

     I’ll say nothing of Caesar who painted the grass crimson with their blood, where he raised the sword. Now it seems, no one knows by what evil star, heaven hates us: all thanks to you

   • 1516–1532, Ludovico Ariosto, “Canto 7”, in Orlando furioso, stanza 35; republished as Santorre Debenedetti, editor, Bari: Laterza, 1928:

     […] senza impedimento
     passa tra cavallieri e tra pedoni,
     mercé all’annel che fuor d’ogni uman uso
     la fa sparir quando l’è in bocca chiuso.

     She passes without obstacles through the knights and soldiers, thanks to the ring, that, in a non-human way, makes her disappear when kept in the mouth

5. (dated) a stroke of luck, a fortunate event

   fu gran mercé se poté aver salva la vita ― he was very lucky to have his life spared (literally, “it was great luck if he could have his life spared”)

Interjection

mercé (archaic)

1. have mercy!

   Synonym: pietà!

2. please

   Synonym: per favore

   mercé, datemi ascolto ― please, listen to me

3. thanks, thank you

   Synonym: grazie

   • 1478, Luigi Pulci, “Canto nono”, in Morgante‎^[6], Felice Le Monnier, published 1855, page 164:

     Al gallo parve che fussi un bel giuoco:
     Gran mercè, disse, che insegnato m’hai;
     e chiuse gli occhi e cominciò a cantare,
     perchè la volpe lo stessi ascoltare.

     The rooster thought it was a fine game. "Many thanks, he said, "for you have taught me". He closed his eyes and started singing, so that the fox could listen to him.

Anagrams

• creme

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin merces.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

mercé

1. thank you

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /meɾˈθe/ [meɾˈθe]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /meɾˈse/ [meɾˈse]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: mer‧cé

Noun

mercé

1. Eye dialect spelling of merced.