mercury

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Senses relating to the metal.

   “When therfore they perceaue a ſufficient quantitie of golde thus remaynynge on the tables, they gather it with diligence and put it in a tray or great ſhallowe dyſſhe of wod […] they beate or mixte (or amalgame it as they caule it) with Mercurie or quickſyluer, […]”

   “[I]f the inverted Tube of Mercury be but 25 Digits high, or ſomevvhat more, the Quick-ſilver vvill not fall but remain ſuſpended in the Tube; becauſe it cannot preſs the ſubjacent Mercury vvith ſo great a force, as does the incumbent Cylinder of the Air reaching thence to the top of the Atmoſphere: […]”

   “The earth is all alive and covered with papillæ. The largest pond is as sensitive to atmospheric changes as the globule of mercury in its tube.”

   “All at once the blood dropped out of her cheeks as the mercury drops from a broken barometer-tube, and she melted away from her seat like an image of snow; a slung-shot could not have brought her down better.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Senses relating to the metal.

   “The mercury there has averaged 37.6°C, 2.3°C above the February norm.”

   “The summers are oppressively hot, and the winters very probably cold; but this fact cannot be ascertained precisely, as, for some peculiar reason, the mercury in these latitudes never shrinks, as in more northern regions, and thus the thermometer is rendered useless in winter.”

   “As the mercury climbed in recent days – hovering at about 42C in both Seville and Córdoba – volunteers in both cities started to assemble around swift colonies, gathering up as many of the dehydrated and undernourished chicks they could find.”

   “Rail temperatures are checked at Manchester Piccadilly on July 18—the first of two consecutive days in which the mercury rose above 38°C across large parts of England.”

3. (countable, historical, uncountable)Senses relating to the metal.

   “[O]ur Cures vvere rendered tedious and unſucceſsful, […] vvhilſt their Bodies vvere purged vvith Catharticks vvithout Mercury. […] They are generally ſtrong if the party can bear them, viz. ſome Preparations of Mercury, as Turbish mineral. &c. or, Antimonial, as Crocus Metallor, in ſtronger Bodies; but in vveaker Conſtitutions vve give ſuch as vve may.”

   “[A] Set of Thieves and Pickpockets, not only robb'd and cheated the poor People of their Money, but poiſoned their Bodies vvith odious and fatal preparations; ſome vvith Mercury, and ſome vvith other things as bad, perfectly remote from the Thing pretended to; and rather hurtful than ſerviceable to the Body in caſe an Infection follovved.”

4. (countable, historical, uncountable)Senses relating to the metal.
5. (countable, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable)Senses relating to the metal.

   “Religion thou haſt none: thy Mercury / Has paſs'd though every Sect, or theirs through Thee.”

   “[A]s able as your ſelf and as nimble too, though I mayn't have ſo much Mercury in my Limbs; […]”

   “Thus, VVit has its VValks and Purlieus, out of vvhich it may not ſtray the breadth of a Hair, upon peril of being loſt. The Moderns have artfully fixed this Mercury [i.e., wit], and reduced it to the Circumſtances of Time, Place and Perſon.”

   “He [The Duke of Buckingham] vvas ſo full of mercury, that he could not fix long in any friendſhip, or to any deſign.”

   “[T]he Mercury of Man is fix'd, / Strong grovvs the Virtue vvith his Nature mix'd; / The Droſs cements vvhat elſe vvere too refin'd, / And in one Int'reſt Body acts vvith Mind.”

6. (countable, uncountable)Senses relating to plants.

   “The herbe which is cõmunely [communely, i.e., commonly] called in engliſhe mercury hath nothyng to do wyth mercurialis, whereof I ſpake nowe. Let the Poticaries vſe thys mercury and let the commune mercury alone.”

   “French Mercurie is ſovven in kitchen gardens among potherbes, in vineyardes, and in moiſt ſhadovvie places, […] Mercurie is hot and drie, yet not aboue the ſecond degree: it hath a clenſing facultie, and (as Galen) vvriteth) a digeſting qualitie alſo.”

   “[T]ovvards the topps of the ſtalks and branches come forth at every Joynt in the Male Mercury tvvo ſmall round green heads, ſtanding together upon a ſhort footſtalk, vvhich grovving ripe are the ſeeds; not having any Flovver: […]”

7. (countable, uncountable)Senses relating to plants.

   “Phyllon […] may be Engliſhed Barons Mercury or Phyllon, or Boyes Mercury or Phyllõ [Phyllon]. And the female is called […] in Engliſh Gyrles Phyllon or Mercury, Daughters Phyllon, or Mayden Mercury.”

   “Dogs Mercurie is ſomevvhat like vnto the garden Mercurie, ſauing the leaues heereof are greater, and the ſtalke not ſo tender, and yet very brittle, grovving to a height of a foote, vvithout any braunches at all, vvith ſmall yellovve flovvers. […] Childrens Mercurie hath three or fovver ſtalkes or mo: […] Theſe vvilde kinds of Mercurie are not vſed in Phiſicke, notvvithſtanding it is thought they agree as vvell in nature as qualitie vvith the other kinds of Mercurie.”

   “Alſo Paxamus ſhevveth another meanes to driue avvay and take Molles: If you take vvhite Hellebor, and the rindes of vvilde Mercury inſtead of Hemlocke, and dry them and beate them to poulder, aftervvard ſifte them and mixe them vvith meale and vvith Milke beaten vvith the vvhite of an Egge, and ſo make it into little morſels or bals, and lay them in the Mole-hole and paſſages, it vvill kill them if they eate thereof, as they vvill certainely doe.”

   “The Decoction of the Leavs of Mercury, or the Juyce thereof in Broth, or Drunk vvith a little Sugar put to it, purgeth Chollerick and vvateriſh Humors.”

8. (Northern-England, countable, uncountable)Senses relating to plants.

   “This herbe is called […] in Engliſh, Good Henry, and Algood: of ſome it is taken for Mercurie.”

   “Engliſh Mercurie, or good Henrie. […] It is taken for a kinde of Mercurie, but vnproperly, for that it hath no participation vvith Mercurie, either in forme or qualitie, except yee vvil call euery herbe Mercurie vvhich hath povver to looſe the bellie.”

9. (Northeastern, US, countable, uncountable)Senses relating to plants.
10. (obsolete)Quicksilver, mercury. (No longer capitalized, as the name of the metal is no longer recognized as that of the planet.)
11. (archaic)A carrier of tidings.
12. (archaic)A carrier of tidings.

    “Enter Mr. Tulkinghorn, followed by Mercuries with lamps and candles.”

13. (archaic)A carrier of tidings.

    “His Mercury having made his observations, reported, that there was no body in the coach but Mrs. Hornbeck and an elderly woman, who had all the air of a duenna, and that the servant was not the same footman who had attended them in France.”

14. (archaic)A carrier of tidings.

    “No allusion to it is to be found in the monthly Mercuries.”

verb

1. (historical, transitive)To apply or coat (something) with mercury (noun sense 1.1) or a preparation containing mercury.

   “In proceeding to elucidate my process, I will divide it into six parts, the first three of which will be confined to plate cleaning; the fourth to coating with chemicals; the fifth to mercurying and chemicals, and the sixth to finishing with general remarks.”

   “An image is but an appearance on glass that has been mercuried. It cannot be a friend.”

   “[T]he room mercuried / in dusk, pigeon loose / and flying frantic against walls, mirror, chilly xylophone of hangers set ringing by its wings.”

2. (historical, obsolete, rare, specifically, transitive)To apply or coat (something) with mercury (noun sense 1.1) or a preparation containing mercury.

   “[…] I knovv, you ha' not a finger, but is as long as my quiuer (couſin Mercvrie) vvhen you pleaſe to extend it. […] Alas, your palmes (Ivpiter knovves) they are as tender as the foot of a foundred nagge, or a ladies face nevv mercuried, the'ile [they'll] touch nothing.”

3. (historical, transitive)To administer to (someone) a medicine containing mercury.

   “As for bloodletting, their prime cooler, it is inflammatory; and they know it (parrot-wise), for the thumping heart, and bounding pulse, of pashints blid [bled] by butchers in black, and bullocks blid by butchers in blue, prove it; and they have recorded this in all their books; yet stabbed, and bit, and starved, and mercuried, and murdered, on.”

name

1. The first planet in the Solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by ☿.

   “Thou, first of the children of men, art come to Mercury, where thou and I will journey up and down for a season to show thee the lands and oceans, the forests, plains, and ancient mountains, cities and palaces of this world, Mercury, and the doings of them that dwell therein.”

2. (Roman)The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger, wearing winged sandals; the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes.
3. (Philippines, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of Mercury Drug.