Amercement

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).