/miz'euhr i kawrd", mi zer"i kawrd'/ , n.
1. a room in a monastery set apart for those monks permitted relaxation of the monastic rule.
2. Also, subsellium . a small projection on the underside of a hinged seat of a church stall, which, when the seat is lifted, gives support to a person standing in the stall.
3. a medieval dagger, used for the mercy stroke to a wounded foe.
Also, misericorde .
[ 1200-50; ME misericorde lit., pity, mercy, an act of clemency misericordia pity, equiv. to misericord- (s. of misericors ) compassionate ( miseri-, s. of miserere to pity + cord- s. of cor heart) + -ia -Y 3 ]