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merced

mercy; grace

noun mehr-SEHD Rare
Mind & Emotions Values

Origin: Latin 'merces' (wages, reward)

Usage Note

Merced is feminine despite ending in a consonant — la merced. It appears almost exclusively in the fixed phrase a merced de meaning 'at the mercy of': estamos a merced del clima (we are at the mercy of the weather). Outside this phrase it sounds archaic; it also survives as the given name Mercedes and the place name La Merced.

Examples

"El bote estaba a merced de las olas."

Natural Translation

The boat was at the mercy of the waves.

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