merc

Clipping of mercenary.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɜːk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɝk/

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merc (plural mercs)

1. (slang) A mercenary.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:mercenary

   • 1999, William Gibson, All Tomorrow's Parties (Bridge trilogy; book 3), New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →ISBN, page 199:

     He had a feeling the scarf was the one he'd really have to watch out for; he couldn't say why. “What if those mercs scope us leaving?”

• MCRE, crem

merc

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of merche

From Old Norse merki. Related with marc (“a weight”, from Frankish *mark) and marche (“frontier”, from Frankish *marka).

merc oblique singular, m (oblique plural mers, nominative singular mers, nominative plural merc)

1. mark (distinguishing feature or attribute)

• ⇒ Old French: merchier, merquer
  • Middle French: marquer
    • ⇒ Middle French: marque f
      • French: marque