misericord

American  

[miz-er-i-kawrd, mi-zer-i-kawrd] / ˌmɪz ər ɪˈkɔrd, mɪˈzɛr ɪˌkɔrd /

Or misericorde

noun

1. a room in a monastery set apart for those monks permitted relaxation of the monastic rule.

2. Also a small projection on the underside of a hinged seat of a church stall, which, when the seat is lifted, gives support to a person standing in the stall.

3. a medieval dagger, used for the mercy stroke to a wounded foe.

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misericord British  

/ mɪˈzɛrɪˌkɔːd /

noun

1. a ledge projecting from the underside of the hinged seat of a choir stall in a church, on which the occupant can support himself while standing

2. Christianity

   1. a relaxation of certain monastic rules for infirm or aged monks or nuns

   2. a monastery where such relaxations can be enjoyed

3. a small medieval dagger used to give the death stroke to a wounded foe

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Etymology

Origin of misericord

1200–50; Middle English misericorde literally, pity, mercy, an act of clemency < Middle French < Latin misericordia pity, equivalent to misericord- (stem of misericors ) compassionate ( miseri-, stem of miserēre to pity + cord- stem of cor heart) + -ia -y ³

Example Sentences

One "read" a cathedral, from its grand structural form down to the last grotesque detail on a misericord, as one might "read" the world from God's seven heavens down to the fish and fleas.

From Time Magazine Archive

Voices I heard, and every one appeared To supplicate for peace and misericord The Lamb of God who takes away our sins.

From Dante: "The Central Man of All the World" A Course of Lectures Delivered Before the Student Body of the New York State College for Teachers, Albany, 1919, 1920 by Slattery, John T. (John Theodore)

The Abbey House comprises portions of the infirmary and perhaps of the misericord, which survived destruction at the time of the suppression of the monastery.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury with some Account of the Priory Church of Deerhurst Gloucestershire by Massé, H. J. L. J. (Henri Jean Louis Joseph)