amercement
verb (used with object), a·merced, a·merc·ing.
1.
to punish by imposing a fine not fixed by statute.
2.
to punish by inflicting any discretionary or arbitrary penalty.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To amercement
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Amercement
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
amerce (əˈmɜːs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | law to punish by a fine |
| 2. | to punish with any arbitrary penalty |
| [C14: from Anglo-French amercier, from Old French à merci at the mercy (because the fine was arbitrarily fixed); see | |
| a'merceable | |
| —adj | |
| a'mercement | |
| —n | |
| a'mercer | |
| —n | |
| amerce (əˈmɜːs) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | law to punish by a fine |
| 2. | to punish with any arbitrary penalty |
| [C14: from Anglo-French amercier, from Old French à merci at the mercy (because the fine was arbitrarily fixed); see | |
| a'merceable | |
| —adj | |
| a'mercement | |
| —n | |
| a'mercer | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
amerce
1215, earlier amercy, Anglo-Fr. amercier "to fine," from merci "mercy, grace" (see mercy). The legal phrase estre a merci "to be at the mercy of" (a tribunal, etc.) was corrupted to estre amercié in an example of how a legalese adv. phrase can become a verb (cf.
abandon). The sense often was "to fine arbitrarily."
"Frans hom ne seit amerciez pour petit forfet." [Magna Charta]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
amercement
in English law, an arbitrary financial penalty, formerly imposed on an offender by his peers or at the discretion of the court or the lord. Although the word has become practically synonymous with "fine," there is a distinction in that fines are fixed by statute, whereas amercements are decided by the court. Originally, an amercement represented a commutation of a sentence that required the forfeiture of goods, while a fine was an arrangement agreed upon between the judge and the prisoner to avoid imprisonment. Magna Carta (1215) attempted to regulate the assessment of amercements.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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