Milost

Milost is a noun used in several Slavic languages, most notably Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Slovene, Czech, and Slovak, to denote mercy, grace, or favor. In religious contexts it commonly refers to divine grace or mercy, such as the grace of God. In secular usage it can indicate kindness or goodwill shown by one person to another, and in historical contexts it has referred to clemency or pardon granted by a ruler.

Etymology and cognates review the word across languages. Milost derives from Proto-Slavic *milostь, from the root *mil- meaning dear or beloved. Cognates include Russian милость (milost’), Czech milost, Slovak milosť, and Slovene milost. The semantic field encompasses mercy, grace, favor, and benevolence, with occasional extension to royalty and clemency in historical texts.

Usage and nuances vary by language and era. In many languages milost appears in theological or liturgical contexts as a universal human or divine blessing. It also appears in phrases referencing royal clemency or pardoning power. In contemporary speech, milost is often formal or archaic in some locales, but survives in religious language, literature, and historical writing, where it preserves the sense of mercy and divine or gracious favor as opposed to ordinary love or affection.

Overall, milost functions as a cross-linguistic term for mercy, grace, and favor, linking human benevolence with theological ideas of divine grace and royal clemency. Its exact connotations depend on linguistic and historical context.