mercury

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a heavy, silvery chemical element that is liquid at ordinary temperatures

   Old thermometers often used mercury.

2. 2
   noun

   the temperature shown by a mercury thermometer

   The mercury fell as the storm arrived.

Middle English mercurie English mercury The noun is derived from Middle English mercurie (“metallic chemical element, quicksilver; a plant, probably goosefoot (genus Chenopodium); (possibly) dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis); etc.”), borrowed from Late Latin mercurius (“metallic chemical element, quicksilver”), Latin Mercurius (“Mercury, the Roman god of commerce, communication, etc.; the planet Mercury; etc.”), possibly from merc-, a stem of merx (“goods, wares; merchandise”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from Etruscan; or * from Proto-Indo-European *merǵ- (“to divide”), or *me...

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