Lexic.us

Definition of Mercurial

1. Adjective. Liable to sudden unpredictable change. "A quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next"

2. Adjective. Relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury. "The Mercurial canals"

3. Adjective. Relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury. "More than Mercurial thievishness"

4. Adjective. Relating to or containing or caused by mercury. "Mercurial sore mouth"

Definition of Mercurial

1. a. Having the qualities fabled to belong to the god Mercury; swift; active; sprightly; fickle; volatile; changeable; as, a mercurial youth; a mercurial temperament.

2. n. A person having mercurial qualities.

Definition of Mercurial

1. Adjective. Volatile; erratic; unstable; flighty; fickle or changeable in temperament. ¹

2. Adjective. Lively; clever; sprightly; animated; quick-witted. ¹

3. Adjective. Of, or pertaining to the element mercury; containing mercury; caused by the action of mercury or quicksilver. ¹

4. Adjective. Having characteristics attributed to the Roman god Mercury, such as swiftness, eloquence, shrewdness, and thievishness. ¹

5. Adjective. (context: Roman mythology) (often capitalized, see '''Mercurial''') Of or pertaining to the Roman god Mercury. ¹

6. Adjective. (context: astronomy) (often capitalized, see '''Mercurial''') Of or pertaining to the planet Mercury; under the supposed astrological influence of the planet Mercury. ¹

7. Noun. A chemical containing mercury. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Mercurial

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Mercurial

1. 1. Having the qualities fabled to belong to the god Mercury; swift; active; sprightly; fickle; volatile; changeable; as, a mercurial youth; a mercurial temperament. "A mercurial man who fluttered over all things like a fan." (Byron) 2. Having the form or image of Mercury; applied to ancient guideposts. 3. Of or pertaining to Mercury as the god of trade; hence, money-making; crafty. "The mercurial wand of commerce." (J. Q. Adams) 4. Of or pertaining to, or containing, mercury; as, mercurial preparations, barometer. See Mercury. 5. Caused by the use of mercury; as, mercurial sore mouth. Origin: L. Mercurialis, fr. Mercurius Mercury: cf. F. Mercuriel. 1. A person having mercurial qualities. 2. A preparation containing mercury. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Mercurial

merck mercocresols mercow mercreature mercs mercumatilin mercuramide mercurammonium mercurammoniums mercurate

mercurated mercurates mercurating mercuration mercurations mercurial (current term) mercurial diuretics mercurial finger mercurial line mercurial ointment

mercurial phosphorus mercurial stomatitis mercurial tremor mercurialentis mercurialism mercurialist mercurialists mercurialities mercuriality mercurialize

Literary usage of Mercurial

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Treatise on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases of the Chest by William Stokes, Henry Wentworth Acland (1882)
"More or less of a typhoid character attended the inflammation, and the mercurial treatment was generally adopted. This change of practice arose, however, ..."

2. Report of the Annual Meeting (1880)
"The necessary angles may be obtained with a sextant and mercurial horizon, but it is convenient, for reasons shortly to be explained, to have in addition a ..."

3. The Practitioner by Gale Group, ProQuest Information and Learning Company (1893)
"True Nature of mercurial Tremor.—Professor Charcot recently delivered at the Salpetriere an interesting lecture on mercurial tremor. ..."

4. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1890)
"He is ... of a disposition, perhaps, rather too mercurial for the chamber of a .... The state or quality of being mercurial, or like the god Mercury, ..."

5. The Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery edited by Lunsford Pitts Yandell, Theodore Stout Bell (1851)
"B. On the Action of mercurial Ointment and the Vapor of Mercury.—The American Journal of Pharmacy, for January, 1851, contains a paper from F. Von Baeren- ..."

6. Elementary Treatise on Natural Philosophy by Augustin Privat-Deschanel (1890)
"Comparability of mercurial Thermometers. — If two mercurial thermometers, each of them constructed so as to have its degrees rigorously equal in capacity, ..."

7. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1871)
"DESCRIPTION OF A NEW FORM OF mercurial HORIZON m WHICH VIBRATIONS ARE ... If, however, the mercurial lake be left of this full depth at and near its ..."

8. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1843)
"M. Mialhe has continued the investigation on other mercurial compounds and the metal itself, and Ihe products obtained are such, that (if found to be ..."

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