Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of amercing, or the state of being amerced. In law, a pecuniary penalty inflicted on an offender at the discretion of the court.
  • noun Also written amerciament.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The infliction of a penalty at the discretion of the court; also, a mulct or penalty thus imposed. It differs from a fine, in that the latter is, or was originally, a fixed and certain sum prescribed by statute for an offense; but an amercement is arbitrary. Hence, the act or practice of affeering. [See affeer.]
  • noun a penalty imposed on an officer for a misdemeanor in his office.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A non-statutory monetary penalty or forfeiture.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun money extracted as a penalty

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

amerce +‎ -ment

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Examples

Comments

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  • ""Indeed not, my lord." Sir Rowley seemed affronted by the idea. "Or not more than usual. But if the lady is to conduct an unofficial inquest, it might subject both town and priory to punitive taxes—I don't say it will, but the regular amercements, confiscations of goods, et cetera might apply.""

    Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, p 69 of the Berkley paperback edition

    February 25, 2012