Definitions for Mercuryˈmɜr kyə ri

mer•cu•ryˈmɜr kyə ri(n.)(pl.)-ries.

a heavy, silver-white, toxic metallic element, liquid at room temperature: used in barometers, thermometers, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, mirror surfaces, and as a laboratory catalyst; quicksilver.
Category: Chemistry
Ref: Symbol: Hg 2
this metal as used in medicine, in the form of various compounds, usu. for skin infections.
Category: Pharmacology
temperature:
The mercury climbed to over a hundred today.
Category: Meteorology
(cap.) the Roman god of commerce, thievery, eloquence, and science, and messenger to the other gods: identified with the Greek god Hermes.
Category: Mythology
(cap.) the planet nearest the sun, having a diameter of 3031 mi. (4878 km), a mean distance from the sun of 36 million mi. (57.9 million km), and a period of revolution of 87.96 days, and having no satellites.
Category: Astronomy
any plant belonging to the genus Mercurialis, of the spurge family, esp. the poisonous, weedy M. perennis of Europe.
Category: Plants
any of several common weeds with spinachlike leaves, esp. weeds of the goosefoot family.
Category: Plants
a messenger.

1300–50; ME Mercurie < ML, L Mercurius, akin to merx goods

mercury, quicksilver, hydrargyrum, Hg, atomic number 80(noun)
a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures
Mercury(noun)
(Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes
Mercury(noun)
the smallest planet and the nearest to the sun
mercury(noun)
temperature measured by a mercury thermometer
"the mercury was falling rapidly"

mercury(Noun)
A metal.
mercury(Noun)
A plant.
Mercury(ProperNoun)
The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger. He wore winged sandals. Mercury corresponded to the Greek god Hermes.
Mercury(ProperNoun)
The planet in the solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by u263F.

Origin: From Mercury.

Mercury(noun)
a Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence
Mercury(noun)
a metallic element mostly obtained by reduction from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque, glistening liquid (commonly called quicksilver), and is used in barometers, thermometers, ect. Specific gravity 13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8. Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and designated by his symbol, /
Mercury(noun)
one of the planets of the solar system, being the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles
Mercury(noun)
a carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also, a newspaper
Mercury(noun)
sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability; fickleness
Mercury(noun)
a plant (Mercurialis annua), of the Spurge family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for spinach, in Europe
Mercury(verb)
to wash with a preparation of mercury

Mercury
the Roman name for the Greek Hermes, the son of Jupiter and Maia, the messenger of the gods, the patron of merchants and travellers, and the conductor of the souls of the dead to the nether world.
Mercury
an interior planet of the Solar system, whose orbit is nearest the sun, the greatest distance being nearly 43,000,000 m. and the least over 28,000,000, is one-seventeenth the size of the earth, but is of greater density, and accomplishes its revolution in about 84 days; it is visible just before the sun rises and after it sets, but that very seldom owing to the sun's neighbourhood.

Mercury
A silver metallic element that exists as a liquid at room temperature. It has the atomic symbol Hg (from hydrargyrum, liquid silver), atomic number 80, and atomic weight 200.59. Mercury is used in many industrial applications and its salts have been employed therapeutically as purgatives, antisyphilitics, disinfectants, and astringents. It can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes which leads to MERCURY POISONING. Because of its toxicity, the clinical use of mercury and mercurials is diminishing.