Mercury
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈmÉ™Ë.kjÊŠ.ɹi/
- US IPA: /ˈmÉkjəɹi/
Origin
From Mercury.
Noun
mercury
(uncountable)- A metal.
- A silvery-colored, toxic, metallic chemical element, liquid at room temperature, with atomic number 80 and symbol Hg. from 14th c.
- (science, historical) One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals. from 15th c.
- The mercury as used in a barometer or thermometer; ambient temperature. from 17th c.The mercury there has averaged 37.6C, 2.3C above the February norm.
- (obsolete) Liveliness, volatility. 17th-18th c.
- Bishop BurnetHe was so full of mercury that he could not fix long in any friendship, or to any design.
- A plant.
- An annual plant, Mercurialis annua, formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury. from 14th c.
- 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 188:Towards the tops of the stalks and branches come forth at every joint in the male Mercury two small round green heads, standing together upon a short footstalk, which growing ripe are the seeds, not having any flower.
- A similar edible plant, Chenopodium bonus-henricus, otherwise known as English mercury or allgood. from 15th c.
- (US, regional) The poison oak or poison ivy. from 18th c.
Synonyms
- azoth (in alchemy)
- hydrargyrum (in medical and sometimes chemical use)
- quicksilver (not in technical use)