E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Miserere (4 syl.).
Our fifty-first psalm is so called. One of the evening services of Lent is called miserere, because this penitential psalm is sung, after which a sermon is delivered. The under side of a folding-seat in choir-stalls is called a miserere; when turned up it forms a ledge-seat sufficient to rest the aged in a kneeling position.