Misericord

[1] Prayers in the early medieval church at the daily divine offices (i.e. Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline) were said standing with uplifted hands.

[2] Slightly earlier individual examples are present at Christchurch Priory and St Mary the Virgin, Hemingbrough.

[2] The vast majority of English misericords date from the 14th and 15th centuries and are curiously most often depictions of secular or pagan images and scenes, entirely at odds with the Christian iconography and aesthetic that surround them.

One set at Chester was destroyed by Dean Howson because he deemed it improper, although 43 of the original medieval scenes remain.

Orthodox Christians stand throughout the long divine services, rather than sit or kneel, though some seating is provided for the elderly and infirm.

A distinct (but related) use of the word is to denote a room in a medieval Benedictine monastery where some part of the community would eat on any given day.