1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Miserere

MISERERE (the imperative of Lat. misereri, to have mercy or pity), the name of one of the penitential psalms (li.), from its opening words, Miserere mei, Deus. The word is frequently used in English as equivalent to “Misericord” (Lat. misericordia, pity, compassion) for various forms in which the rules of a monastic order or general discipline of the clergy might be relaxed; thus it is applied to a special chamber in a monastery for those members who were allowed special food, drink, &c., and to a small bracket on the under side of the seat in a stall of a church made to turn up and afford support to a person in a position between sitting and standing. “Misericord” and “miserere” are also used of a small dagger, the “dagger of mercy,” capable of passing between the joints of armour, with which the coup de grâce might be given to a wounded man.