mercy

英 ['mɜːsɪ] 美['mɝsi]
  • n. 仁慈,宽容;怜悯;幸运;善行
  • n. (Mercy)人名;(英)默西,默茜(女名);(法)梅西

CET4TEM4IELTS考研CET6中低频词核心词汇

词态变化


复数: mercies;

助记提示


1. 神仙拿着花来 c‐see y‐you.

中文词源


mercy 仁慈,怜悯

来自古法语merci,礼物,奖品,友善,来自拉丁语merx,商品,物品,词源同market,merchant.原指神对帮助弱者的人给予的礼物或奖励,本质上即通过交换或贸易来鼓励人们行善,后用于指上帝原谅其子民的冒犯和无知,并由此引申词义仁慈,怜悯。

英英释意


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"
2. a disposition to be kind and forgiving;
"in those days a wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband"
3. the feeling that motivates compassion
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"

英文词源


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 In French largely superseded by miséricorde except as a word of thanks.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

同义词辨析


pity, mercy, sympathy, compassion

这些名词均有"同情,怜悯"之意。

pity: 指对弱者、不幸者所表示的怜惜之情。

mercy: 侧重指对应受惩罚或地位卑下者的慈悲或怜悯。

sympathy: 普通常用词,含义广。指志趣、看法上的一致,也指感情相投,带有深深的恻隐之心的亲切之情。

compassion: 较正式较庄重用词,指对同等人的同情与理解,常含急切愿意帮忙的意味。

考试真题


In The Prince, he championed cunning, ruthlessness, and boldness, rather than virtue, mercy and justice, as the skills of successful leaders.

2012年考研真题(英语二)阅读理解 Section Ⅱ

词组搭配


be thankful (或 grateful) for small mercies

be relieved that an unpleasant situation is alleviated by minor advantages

庆幸不利情况已略有改善

have mercy on (或 upon)

show compassion or forgiveness to

宽恕;对…有怜悯之心

may the Lord have mercy on her soul.

愿主宽恕她的灵魂。

leave someone/thing to the mercy of

expose someone or something to a situation of probable danger or harm

听任…由(可能有危险或危害的形势)摆布

the forest is left to the mercy of the loggers.

森林任凭伐木工随意砍伐。

throw oneself on someone's mercy

intentionally place oneself in someone's hands in the expectation that they will behave mercifully towards one

特意恳求(某人)宽恕

at the mercy of

Without any protection against; helpless before

任由…摆布;在…面前无助

drifting in an open boat, at the mercy of the elements.

在一敞篷船中漂泊,任由暴风雨摆布

实用场景例句


to ask/beg/plead for mercy
请求 / 乞求 / 祈求宽恕

牛津词典

They showed no mercy to their hostages.
他们对人质丝毫不讲仁慈。

牛津词典

God have mercy on us.
上帝怜悯我们吧。

牛津词典

The troops are on a mercy mission (= a journey to help people) in the war zone.
部队出发救助战区民众。

牛津词典

It's a mercy she wasn't seriously hurt.
幸运的是她伤势不重。

牛津词典

I'm not going to put myself at the mercy of the bank.
我不想任由银行摆布。

牛津词典

We were at the mercy of the weather.
我们受制于天气。

牛津词典

Neither side took prisoners or showed any mercy...
双方都没有抓俘虏,也没有表现出丝毫的心慈手软。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

They cried for mercy but their pleas were met with abuse and laughter...
他们哭喊着请求宽恕,可是他们的恳求却遭到了谩骂和嘲笑。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

She vanished nine months ago while on a mercy mission to West Africa...
9个月前她在去西非的慈善之旅中消失了。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

It's the first so-called mercy flight for a fortnight as the Americans have been waiting for enough people to fill a 747 jet.
美国人一直在等人坐满一架747飞机,这便是第一次为期两周的所谓慈善飞行。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

It really was a mercy that he'd died so rapidly at the end...
他最后去得那么快,真是谢天谢地。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

The two cars finished up in a run-off area, clear of the circuit, and that was a mercy.
两辆车最后都停在了缓冲区,避开了赛车道,真是万幸。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

Buildings are left to decay at the mercy of vandals and the weather...
建筑物因人为的肆意破坏及日晒雨淋而日益破败。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

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。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

But so low has morale sunk that the team and the fans would have been grateful for small mercies.
士气如此低沉,一丁点的好运都会让队员和球迷庆幸不已。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

He's going to throw himself on the mercy of the court.
他准备听凭法庭发落。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

I will show no mercy to [ on ] him.
我决不对他 行善.

《现代汉英综合大词典》

Please use the overpass to cross the street.
过马路请走天桥.

期刊摘选

The murderer's entreaties for mercy availed to nothing.
无人理会杀人犯的求饶.

《简明英汉词典》

That is a mercy!
那真是幸运!

《现代英汉综合大词典》

She went down on her knees, pleading for mercy.
她双膝跪下, 乞求谅解.

《简明英汉词典》

Mercy to the enemies means cruelty to the people.
对敌人的仁慈就意味着对人民的残忍.

《简明英汉词典》

We do pray you to show mercy.
我们恳求你发发慈悲.

《简明英汉词典》

It's a mercy the accident happened so close to the hospital.
幸亏车祸发生在离医院很近的地方.

《简明英汉词典》

We try to strike a balance between justice and mercy.
我们设法做到宽严并济,恩威兼施.

《简明英汉词典》