Misery–the English word for unhappiness, misfortune, or distress–comes from the Old French misere by way of the Latin miseria, the word for wretchedness.

Misericordia is the Latin word for “mercy,” derived from misericors, “merciful,” which is in turn derived from miserere, “to pity,” and cor, “heart.”

Put it together, I suppose, and my confusion disappears: what I have uncovered in the word that points two ways are false cognates but not false friends?