mercurial
Part of speech: noun
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: astrology
astronomy
chemistry
human-sciences
medicine
mysticism
mythology
natural-sciences
pharmacology
philosophy
physical-sciences
sciences
Etymology: Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial (“a plant, probably the goosefoot (Chenopodium); (possibly) dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis)”), from Anglo-Norman mercurial, Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon Latin mercuriālis (“a plant, probably annual mercury (Mercurialis annua)”), short for herba mercuriālis (“(probably) annual mercury”, literally “herb or plant of the god Mercury”). Mercuriālis (“pertaining to the Roman god Mercury”, adjective) is derived from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).
Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuriālis (adjective), whence Middle English mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).
Inflected forms:
form: mercurials
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: mercuriall
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: more mercurial
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most mercurial
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: mercuriall
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: Mercurial
pos: adj
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua).
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: A person born under the influence of the planet Mercury; hence, a person having an eloquent, quickwitted, furtive, or volatile character.
pos: noun
examples: As for [Lambert] Simnell, there was not much in him, more then that hee was a handſome Boy, and did not ſhame his Robes. But this Youth (of whom wee are now to ſpeake) was ſuch a Mercuriall, as the like hath ſeldome beene knowne; and could make his owne part, if at any time hee chanced to bee out.
gloss: A chemical compound containing mercury.
pos: noun
gloss: A preparation of mercury, especially as a treatment for syphilis.
pos: noun
tags: historical
examples: She had paſſed through the milder Remedies frequently without ſucceſs: upon which account I deſigned Mercurialls; and beginning with Venæſection, afterwards purged her with decoct. epithymi, as it is preſcribed in the method of Cure. [...] After I had thus evacuated the Plethora, and diſpoſed her body for Mercurialls more operative, I gave her each morning and evening a few grains of Mercur. diaphoret. in a bolus with conſ. lujule and Mithridate, [...]
[A] small dose of the mercurial may cause excessive salivation; and, if this discharge be attended by much soreness of throat, it is most difficult to determine whether the salivation is actually the result of the mercurial, or merely symptomatic of the sore throat and cold. If it proceed from the mercurial, there will generally be some tenderness of the gums, a soft and flabby state of the sides of the tongue, and it will generally be more obstinate.
gloss: Having a lively or volatile character; animated, changeable, quick-witted.
pos: adj
tags: comparable
examples: his mercurial temperament
[Y]our Mercuriall wit hath mangonized a Gigantean fury with an humble hue.
When the ſoule bringeth its fire deſire out of its owne ſelfe-will into the Love-deſire of God; and goeth out of its owne ſelfneſſe, and ſinketh into the mercy and compaſſion of God, and caſteth it ſelfe into the death of Chriſt; and willeth no longer the fire-ſource, but deſireth in its fire-life to be dead in the death of Chriſt; then the poyſon of the Mercuriall life dyeth in the will of iniquity, and there ariſeth a new twigge, and budding of love-deſire.
From the natural Mercurial Briskneſs of her [Sally Salisbury's] Temper, a ſedentary Life had ever been her Averſion, wherefore ſhe rather choſe to follow the Fortunes of a Wheel-Barrow, than thoſe of a Diſtaff; [...]
Robert Maxwell, who has died aged 68, was one of the most mercurial postwar operators not only in the British media but British commerce generally, a self-made individualist who managed - just - to keep a fitful peace with the mores of a British corporate scene notoriously unaccepting of flamboyant personalities.
Lebanon has shown once again that it is a land of dazzling deals and mercurial personalities, including in the realm of the national presidency itself.
One key reason is the very quality in Mr. Trump that benefited Mr. Netanyahu the first time around: his intensely personal, if often mercurial, approach to political relationships.
gloss: Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see adjective sense 1).
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: The Sun to the Terms of Mercury. It inclineth the native to be Mercurial, given to ſtudy Arts and Sciences, and to delight in reading, and to follow his Calling with chearfulneſs.
6thly, The ☽ separates from a △ of ♂︎, and applies to ☍ of ☿, lord of the 3d; which intimated that some neighbour of the querent, either with a letter, words, or cross information, would wholly destroy the querent's hopes; and that mercurial men, viz. scholars or divines, would be his enemies: [...]
gloss: Pertaining to the planet Mercury.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
gloss: Of or pertaining to the element mercury or quicksilver; containing mercury.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: Beware alſo of Mercuriall lotions, I meane any which haue Mercurie Sublimate Precipitat or otherwiſe prepared in them, for though they haue good qualities, yet they are vpon my knowledge and experience dangerous, [...]
[...] Dr. Francis Fuller, [...] upon wearing a Quick-ſilver Girdle, for the Cure of the Itch, (and that after an inconſiderate and raſh manner) was brought under a violent Spaſmodick Diſtemper, which was ſupposed by himſelf and others to be owing to ſome Mercurial Particles lodg'd in ſome excretory Ducts of the Brain.
If to theſe we add the inconveniences inſeparable from mercurial preparations, and which are always the conſequences of their uſe; if we conſider the ſmall number of patients to whom mercury may be exhibited with ſafety, [...] the uſe of mercurial medicines will be confined within very narrow limits.
[I]n the month of May, a mercurial thermometer, having its bulb covered with paper, and blackened in a similar manner to the spirit one, was inclosed in a square bottle of thin glass, four inches wide, to protect it from the wind.
gloss: Caused by the action of mercury or a mercury compound.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: I ſaw in the Year 1709. a notable inſtance, where a Phyſician order'd the Patient to be Bled five times in a Mercurial Salivation in a Caſe not Venereal; when he did ſpit at the rate of ℔ iv. per diem, and it was at the height, and yet notwithſtanding it did continue for all this, and the Patient eſcap'd with his Life.
The last exciting cause of the mercurial ulcer, which I shall now mention, is the use of the knife or of the caustic, during a mercurial course, to wounds made or enlarged at this time; for the great additional irritation, which the operation must produce, disposes such wounds to take on easily the mercurial disease.
gloss: Pertaining to Mercury, the Roman god of, among other things, commerce, financial gain, communication, and thieves and trickery; hence (comparable), money-making; crafty.
pos: adj
tags: Roman
not-comparable
examples: Near-synonym: Hermesian
I know the ſhape of's Legge: this is his Hand: / His Foote Mercuriall: his martiall Thigh / The brawnes of Hercules: but his Iouiall face— / Murther in heaven?
[Benjamin] Franklin, the mechanic of his own fortune, [...] tendering, from the self-created nation, to the mightiest monarchs of Europe, the olive-branch of peace, the mercurial wand of commerce, and the amulet of protection and safety to the man of peace on the pathless ocean from the inexorable cruelty and merciless rapacity of war; [...]
Related words: mercuric
mercury
Mercury
hot-tempered
quick-tempered
Derived words: intermercurial
intramercurial
mercurial eczema
mercurial finger
mercurial glossitis
mercurialisation
mercurialization
mercurialise
mercurialize
mercurialism
mercurialist
mercuriality
mercurially
mercurialness
mercurial ointment
mercurial phosphorus
mercurial pneumatic trough
mercurial rash
mercurial trough
nonmercurial
organomercurial
phenylmercurial
unmercurial
Translations: