noun
- a narrow ledge on the underside of a hinged seat, as in a choir stall, designed to support a person standing at rest against the turned-up seat
- a dagger used in the Middle Ages for giving the death stroke (coup de grâce) to a wounded knight
Origin:
ME misericorde < OFr < L misericordia < misericors, merciful < base of misereri (see Miserere) + cor, heart