a. Relaxation of monastic rules, as a dispensation from fasting.
b. The room in a monastery used by monks who have been granted such a dispensation.
2. A bracket attached to the underside of a hinged seat in a church stall on which a standing person may lean. Also called miserere.
3. A narrow dagger used in medieval times to deliver the death stroke to a seriously wounded knight.
[Middle English, pity, from Old French, from Latin misericordia, from misericors, misericord-, merciful : miserērī, to feel pity; see miserere + cor, cord-, heart; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]
1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a ledge projecting from the underside of the hinged seat of a choir stall in a church, on which the occupant can support himself or herself while standing
2. (Ecclesiastical Terms) Christianity
a. a relaxation of certain monastic rules for infirm or aged monks or nuns
b. a monastery where such relaxations can be enjoyed
3. (Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) a small medieval dagger used to give the death stroke to a wounded foe
[C14: from Old French, from Latin misericordia compassion, from miserēre to pity + cor heart]
Tu fewn i'r eglwys ei hyn rwyf yn gwneud yn siwr fod y criw yn cael gwerthfawrogi'r seddau misericord yn y gangell - ffurf o sedd sydd yn gefn i rhywun sydd yn gorfod sefyll tra mae'r sedd ar i fyny yn ystod gwasanaethau yn y canol oesoedd.
"It has some of the oldest oak misericord woodcarvings in the country, magnificent stained glass windows, soaring gothic architecture and beautiful illuminated artworks.
Ond ar yr ail-ymweliad yma dyma wir werthfawrogi un o'r trysorau hynod o fewn yr Eglwys lle gellir gweld ugain o seddau pren "Misericord" yn y gangell sydd yn dyddio o'r bymthegfed ganrif.
Intricately tracing a series of allusions and contrasting contexts, Furrow considers the connections that link the Tristram and Isolde legend to the Anglo-Norman Amadas and Ydoine, Middle English works, such as Sir Degrevant, Emare, and Gower's Confessio Amantis, and the non-textual examples of the sculptured relief on the Chester misericord and a miniature from Musee Conde, Chantilly MS 26.
One of the richest repositories of imagery in the medieval English wood carving just mentioned is the misericord, a folding seat mounted on the back wall of the choir stall to enable the celebrants to rest the weight of their bodies during services.
We see him having a pint in Pule Side Working Men's Club, sitting alongside Harold Wilson's statue in St George's Square, discussing dialect words in a Manchester studio with a Radio Two presenter, then on hands and knees in Beverley Minster searching the undersides of carved misericord seats in search of inspiration.
[100] Although a German misericord carving from around 1430 shows a young woman naked and riding backwards on a goat the association is with lust and adultery and there is no indication that witchcraft is involved.
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