amerce

verb

\ ə-ˈmərs

How to pronounce amerce (audio)

\

amerced; amercing

Definition of amerce

transitive verb

: to punish by a fine whose amount is fixed by the court broadly : punish

Other Words from amerce Did You Know? Learn More about amerce

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from amerce

amercement \ -ˈmər-smənt

\ noun

amerciable \ -ˈmər-sē-ə-bəl

, -ˈmər-shə-bəl \ adjective

Did You Know?

If you break the law, you could find yourself "at the mercy" of the court. As you await your punishment (hoping that the judge will in fact be merciful), you may want to ponder the history of "amerce." It begins with the Old French phrase a merci, meaning "at (one's) mercy," which in turn gave rise to the Anglo-French verb amercier (same meaning as "amerce"). Middle English speakers adopted the French word as "amercien," which was later modernized to "amerce." In addition to the legal use, "amerce" can also be used in a more general sense for the infliction of any sort of punishment, monetary or otherwise.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about amerce

Listen to Our Podcast about amerce

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Dictionary Entries near amerce

America Firster

Statistics for amerce

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for amerce

The first known use of amerce was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century

WORD OF THE DAY

magniloquent

grandiloquent, ostentatious, or bombastic

Test Your Vocabulary

Original Meanings Quiz

Which of the following is the earliest known sense of the word awe?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games