Word of the Day March 19, 2024 [archive]

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Today's word: amerce
əˈmɜrsamerce

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word amerce

Princeton's WordNet

  1. amerceverb

    punish with an arbitrary penalty

  2. amerceverb

    punish by a fine imposed arbitrarily by the discretion of the court

Wiktionary

  1. amerceverb

    To impose a fine on; to fine.

  2. amerceverb

    To punish, to make an exaction.

  3. Etymology: from amercier, from à + merci (at the mercy of) (English mercy), from mercedem.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To AMERCEverb

    Etymology: amercier, Fr. Οφϑαλμων μὲν ἄμεϱζε, seems to give the original.

    But I’ll amerce you with so strong a fine,
    That you shall all repent the loss of mine. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

    All the suitors were considerably amerced; yet this proved but an ineffectual remedy for those mischiefs. Matthew Hale, Law of Engl.

    They shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel. Deut. xxii. 19.

    Millions of spirits, for his fault amerc’d
    Of heav’n, and from eternal splendours flung
    For his revolt. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. i.

Wikipedia

  1. amerce

    An amercement is a financial penalty in English law, common during the Middle Ages, imposed either by the court or by peers. The noun "amercement" lately derives from the verb to amerce, thus: the king amerces his subject, who offended some law. The term is of Anglo-Norman origin (Law French, from French, from Latin), and literally means "being at the mercy of": a-merce-ment (English mercy is cognate). While it is often synonymous with a fine, it differs in that a fine is a fixed sum prescribed by statute and was often voluntary, while an amercement is arbitrary. Amercements were commonly used as a punishment for minor offences (such as trespassing in the king's forest), as an alternative to imprisonment.

ChatGPT

  1. amerce

    To amerce is to impose a financial penalty or fine on someone as a punishment for a crime or misdemeanor. It often refers to the legal judgment in a court.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Amerceverb

    to punish by a pecuniary penalty, the amount of which is not fixed by law, but left to the discretion of the court; as, the amerced the criminal in the sum on the hundred dollars

  2. Amerceverb

    to punish, in general; to mulct

  3. Etymology: [OF. amercier, fr. a merci at the mercy of, liable to a punishment. See Mercy.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Amerce

    a-mėrs′, v.t. to punish by a fine: to deprive of anything, or inflict loss upon.—n. Amerce′ment, a penalty inflicted—also Amerc′iament. [O. Fr. amercier, to impose a fine—L. merces, wages, fine.]

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of amerce in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of amerce in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9


Translations for amerce

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