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at ones mercy

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mer⋅cy

  [mur-see]
Use at ones mercy in a Sentence
–noun, plural -cies for 4, 5.
1. compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.
2. the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.
3. the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, esp. to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.
4. an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.
5. something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened.
—Idiom
6. at the mercy of, entirely in the power of; subject to: They were at the mercy of their captors. Also, at one's mercy.
Origin:
1125–75; ME merci < OF, earlier mercit < L mercēd- (s. of mercēs) wages (LL, ML: heavenly reward), deriv. of merx goods

Synonyms:
1. forgiveness, indulgence, clemency, leniency, lenity, tenderness, mildness.

Antonyms:
1. cruelty.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

mercy 
c.1175, "God's forgiveness of his creatures' offenses," from O.Fr. mercit, merci "reward, gift, kindness," from L. mercedem (nom. merces) "reward, wages, hire" (in V.L. "favor, pity"), from merx (gen. mercis) "wares, merchandise." In Church L. (6c.) applied to the heavenly reward of those who show kindness to the helpless. Meaning "disposition to forgive or show compassion" is attested from c.1225. As an interjection, attested from c.1240. In Fr. largely superseded by miséricorde except as a word of thanks. Seat of mercy "golden covering of the Ark of the Covenant" (1530) is Tyndale's loan-translation of Luther's gnadenstuhl, an inexact rendering of Heb. kapporeth, lit. "propitiatory."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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