MERCURY

mercury

(noun) temperature measured by a mercury thermometer; “the mercury was falling rapidly”

Mercury

(noun) the smallest planet and the nearest to the sun

Mercury

(noun) (Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes

mercury, quicksilver, hydrargyrum, Hg, atomic number

(noun) a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

mercury (countable and uncountable, plural mercuries)

A metal.

A silvery-colored, toxic, metallic chemical element, liquid at room temperature, with atomic number 80 and symbol Hg. [from 14th c.]

Synonyms: azoth (in alchemy), hydrargyrum (in medical and sometimes chemical use), quicksilver (not in technical use)

(science, historical) One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals. [from 15th c.]

(with definite article) Ambient pressure or temperature (from the use of mercury in barometers and thermometers). [from 17th c.]

(obsolete) Liveliness, volatility. [17th-18th c.]

Any of several types of plant.

An annual plant, annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury. [from 14th c.]

Synonym: mercurial

Any plant of any species of the genus and the genus Mercurialis.

A similar edible plant (Blitum bonus-henricus), otherwise known as English mercury or allgood. [from 15th c.]

(US, regional) The poison oak or poison ivy. [from 18th c.]

Etymology

Proper noun

Mercury

(astronomy) The planet in the solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by ☿.

(Roman god) The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger. He wore winged sandals. Mercury corresponded to the Greek god Hermes.

Noun

Mercury (plural Mercuries)

(obsolete) A carrier of tidings; a newsboy, a messenger. [16th–19th c.]

Someone who carries messages between lovers; a go-between. [from 17th c.]

(dated) A newspaper. [from 17th c.]

Source: Wiktionary

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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 -39º 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

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