merciful, a.
(ˈmɜːsɪfʊl)
[f. mercy n. + -ful.]
Of persons, their actions, attributes, etc.: Having or exercising mercy; characterized by mercy.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter cxliv. 8 Mercifulle and milde herted in lande Lauerd, and mikel milde-herted and tholand. 1382 Wyclif Matt. v. 7 Blessed be mercyful men, for thei shuln gete mercye. a 1425 Cursor M. (Trin.) 18359 Lord..þi wille is merciful wiþynne So þou dost awey oure synne. 1509 Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 291 Mercyfull also & pyteous she was vnto suche as was greuyd & wrongfully troubled. 1531 Tindale Expos. 1 John (1537) 2 Understandynge them [ye promises of mercye]..after the mercifullest fashion. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 25 How gratious and mercifull he is to al trew penitent persones. 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 178 Though the Seas threaten they are mercifull, I haue curs'd them without cause. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §11 The mercifull nature of God. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i. (1841) I. 19 But God is merciful too, child. 1851 Dixon W. Penn xxvii. (1872) 247 She had obeyed the merciful promptings of her heart in sheltering a fellow-creature. 1886 C. F. Woolson East Angels xxxvii. 577 Merciful Heaven!..do you care for him?—is that it? |
| absol. 138. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 328 Blissed be þe mercyful. c 1460 Wisdom 1136 in Macro Plays 72 Þe ouer parte of yowur reasun, Be wyche ye haue lyknes of Gode mest, Ande of þat mercyfull very congnycion. |
b. In sarcastic use.
| 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 566 It was merciful not to add a thousand [facts] whilst he was about it. |