Pronounced: LAY-me-uh, noun
Notes: I didn’t know there was a word for this
Yesterday’s word
The word misericord means
- compassion, pity, or mercy
- something to provide support to a standing person
- a place where rules are relaxed
- a dagger used to deliver the death stroke to a seriously wounded person
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1200s
Background / Comments
So… nothing to do with misers. Our word came from the Old French word misericord, which came from the Latin word misericordia (pity or mercy), which is made up of misereri (to pity) and cor (heart).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 