QUICKSILVER

erratic, fickle, mercurial, quicksilver

(adjective) liable to sudden unpredictable change; “erratic behavior”; “fickle weather”; “mercurial twists of temperament”; “a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next”

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

Etymology

Noun

quicksilver (uncountable)

The metal mercury.

(colloquial) An amalgam of mercury and tin applied to the backs of mirrors, quicksilvering.

Synonyms

• (the metal mercury): mercury, hydrargyrum

Adjective

quicksilver (not comparable)

Unpredictable, erratic or fickle; mercurial.

Verb

quicksilver (third-person singular simple present quicksilvers, present participle quicksilvering, simple past and past participle quicksilvered)

To overlay with quicksilver.

To treat with quicksilver.

Source: Wiktionary

Quick"sil`ver, n. Etym: [Quick living + silver; -- so called from its fluidity; cf. G. quecksilber, L. argentum vivum. See Quick, a.] (Chem.)

Definition: The metal mercury; -- so called from its resemblance to liquid silver. Quicksilver horizon, a mercurial artificial horizon. See under Horizon.

– Quicksilver water, a solution of mercury nitrate used in artificial silvering; quick water.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition