MERCURIES
Noun
Mercuries
plural of Mercury
Noun
mercuries
plural of mercury
Source: Wiktionary
MERCURY
Mer"cu*ry, n. Etym: [L. Mercurius; akin to merx wares.]
1. (Rom. Myth.)
Definition: A Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated by the poets as
identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger of the gods, conductor of
souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence.
2. (Chem.)
Definition: A metallic element mostly obtained by reduction from cinnabar,
one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque, glistening liquid (commonly
called quicksilver), and is used in barometers, thermometers, ect.
Specific gravity 13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8.
Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It was named
by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and designated by his
symbol, mercury.
Note: Mercury forms alloys, called amalgams, with many metals, and is
thus used in applying tin foil to the backs of mirrors, and in
extracting gold and silver from their ores. It is poisonous, and is
used in medicine in the free state as in blue pill, and in its
compounds as calomel, corrosive sublimate, etc. It is the only metal
which is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and it solidifies at about
-39ΒΊ Centigrade to a soft, malleable, ductile metal.
3. (Astron.)
Definition: One of the planets of the solar system, being the one nearest
the sun, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its
period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles.
4. A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also, a
newspaper. Sir J. Stephen. "The monthly Mercuries." Macaulay.
5. Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability; fickleness.
[Obs.]
He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long in any
friendship, or to any design. Bp. Burnet.
6. (Bot.)
Definition: A plant (Mercurialis annua), of the Spurge family, the leaves
of which are sometimes used for spinach, in Europe.
Note: The name is also applied, in the United States, to certain
climbing plants, some of which are poisonous to the skin, esp. to the
Rhus Toxicodendron, or poison ivy. Dog's mercury (Bot.), Mercurialis
perennis, a perennial plant differing from M. annua by having the
leaves sessile.
– English mercury (Bot.), a kind of goosefoot formerly used as a
pot herb; -- called Good King Henry.
– Horn mercury (Min.), a mineral chloride of mercury, having a
semitranslucent, hornlike appearance.
Mer"cu*ry, v. t.
Definition: To wash with a preparation of mercury. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition