mercê

Forms

mercê f (plural mercês)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote mercee, merçee and merce; the form mercê appears in the 15th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mercēs (“wages, reward”), written Old Galician-Portuguese mercee in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1] The /d/ between vowels was lost, and the two like vowels of the old form were later contracted into one; in the cantigas the word is still scanned as three syllables, though the Cancioneiro da Ajuda already has a contracted, long vowel in one verse.^[5][6]

The same Latin word is Galician mercé, Spanish merced, Catalan mercè, Occitan mercé, French merci and Italian mercede.^[7][1] The Latin noun is derived from merx (“merchandise”).^[4][8][1] Its sense moved from “pay, reward” to “favour, grace”: Late Latin used it for “favour”, and in Medieval Latin it meant goodwill, pity, a ruler's grace and his free pleasure.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, mercee, is from 1269.^[2] In the cantigas d'amigo and d'amor the word means pity and forgiveness, above all in aver mercee de alguém “to have pity on someone”;^[5][10] King Dinis has pois nom havedes mercee de mi “since you have no pity on me”.^[5][10] The Cantigas de Santa Maria sing of the Virgin's great mercee, her grace and favour.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The medieval prose of the Crónica Geral and the Miragres de Santiago uses merçee for favour, help, protection and compassion, and a Noia document of 1390 asks the archbishop por merçee “as a favour”.^[3] Houaiss dates to the 14th century the senses “remission of guilt” and “benevolence”.^[2] In the old monarchy a mercê was an appointment to office or a grant of a title, and Morais records à mercê do vencedor “at the winner's discretion” and à mercê das ondas “at the mercy of the waves”.^[2][11]

Vossa Mercê “your grace” was the form of address for people who had no right to senhoria; it was worn down to vossemecê and vosmecê and finally to você, recorded from 1665.^[2][12] Spanish has the parallel vuestra merced > usted.^[7][1]

Timeline

• 1269 – mercee.^[2]
• 13th century – the spellings merce and merçéé; the derivatives amercear and merceoso.^[2][4]
• 14th century – the senses “remission of guilt” and “benevolence”.^[2]
• 1390 – pedimos por merçee in a document of Noia.^[3]
• 15th century – the spelling mercê.^[2]
• 1665 – vossancé, on the way from Vossa Mercê to você.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais records à mercê do vencedor and à mercê das ondas.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Pay or reward for work or service.^[2][13]
2. A favour, grace or benefit granted to someone.^[2][13][1]
3. mercy, forgiveness; a pardon or remission of a penalty.^[2][14]
4. Goodwill, indulgence, a kind reception.^[2][13]
5. Appointment to a public office; the grant of a title or decoration.^[2][15]
6. Arbitrary will; whim: à mercê de “at the mercy of”.^[2][15]

Word family

• amercear
• vossemecê
• vosmecê
• você

Related words

• mercenário
• mercado
• Latin mercēs
• Spanish merced

Usage notes

Mercê de means “thanks to, owing to”;^[2][13] ter em mercê “to take as a favour”.^[2][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. mercê
3. ^ a b c Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. merçee
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. mercê
5. ^ a b c d Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. mercee
6. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. mercê
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. merces
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. mercēs
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. merces
10. ^ a b Lopes, Graça Videira; Ferreira, Manuel Pedro et al. (2011–), Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas [online database], Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, FCSH/NOVA, https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt, p. s.v. mercee
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 290
12. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. você
13. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. mercê
14. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. mercê
15. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6096