Slang term for a mercenary, a soldier who fights for money rather than loyalty to a country.
Abbreviated form of 'mercenary,' from Latin 'mercenarius' (hired for wages). The slang version emerged in 20th-century military and gaming contexts as shorthand.
Modern private military companies like Blackwater employ thousands of 'mercs,' making mercenary work a huge global industry worth billions—it's one of history's oldest professions but still evolving! The term has shifted from historical soldiers-of-fortune to a much larger, corporate system.
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