merce
/ˈmɜː(ɹ)s/
"merce" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“merce” is uncommon English (frequency #80,666 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #80,666
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To subject to fine or amercement; to mulct; to amerce.
Corpus desk
Index EN-merce · merce · English
merce · rank #80,666 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #80,666
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH mendacity
Nearest frequency peer: mendacity (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “merce”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- megalomania
megalomania
19,337 corpus weight
- mendacity
mendacity
19,336 corpus weight
- merce
merce
19,335 corpus weight
- merk
merk
19,334 corpus weight
- Merwin
Merwin
19,333 corpus weight
- meson
meson
19,332 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “merce” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | merce |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈmɜː(ɹ)s/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #80,666 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “merce” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
merce is uncommon English at frequency #80,666 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈmɜː(ɹ)s/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To subject to fine or amercement; to mulct; to amerce.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for merce, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: See amerce. The correct English form is merce, spelled M-E-R-C-E.
Definition
- 1To subject to fine or amercement; to mulct; to amerce.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how merce appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
this Ralph was merced in seven thousand marks, for bribery, and ejected out of his place.
Etymology
See amerce.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "merce", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "merce". Here's where to go from here.
- Usage frequency rank #80,666 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.