mercury
see also: Mercury
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈməː.kjʊ.ɹi/
  • (America) enPR: mûr'kūrē, IPA: /ˈmɝkjəɹi/
Noun

mercury

  1. A metal.
    1. A silvery-colored, toxic, metallic chemical element, liquid at room temperature, with atomic number 80 and symbol Hg. [from 14th c.]
      Synonyms: azoth, hydrargyrum, quicksilver
    2. (science, historical) One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals. [from 15th c.]
    3. (with definite article) Ambient pressure or temperature (from the use of mercury in barometers and thermometers). [from 17th c.]
      The mercury there has averaged 37.6°C, 2.3°C above the February norm.
    4. (obsolete) Liveliness, volatility. [17th-18th c.]
      • He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long in any friendship, or to any design.
  2. Any of several types of plant#Noun|plant.
    1. An annual plant, annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury. [from 14th c.]
      Synonyms: mercurial
      • 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.
    2. Any plant of any species of the genus and the genus Mercurialis.
    3. A similar edible plant, Blitum bonus-henricus, otherwise known as English mercury or allgood. [from 15th c.]
    4. (US, regional) The poison oak or poison ivy. [from 18th c.]
Related terms Translations Translations
  • German: Bingelkraut
  • Italian: mercorella
  • Russian: проле́сник

Mercury
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /ˈmɝkjəɹi/
Proper noun
  1. (astronomy) The planet in the solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by ☿.
  2. (Roman god) The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger. He wore winged sandals. Mercury corresponded to the Greek god Hermes.
Translations Translations Noun

mercury (plural Mercuries)

  1. (dated) A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger.
  2. (dated) A newspaper.
    • 18, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 21, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify ), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323 ↗:



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