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mercury

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English

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WOTD – 10 February 2026
Chemical element
Hg
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A sample of mercury (noun sense 1.1), which is liquid at room temperature, sealed in a glass ampoule.
Mercury (noun sense 2.1), now generally called annual mercury (Mercurialis annua).
Allgood or Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus) is also known as mercury (noun sense 2.2.2.1) because of its similarity to annual mercury.

Etymology

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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.”),[1] 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”);[2] further etymology uncertain, possibly:

The suffix -urius is also thought to be from Etruscan.[2]

Noun sense 1.1 (“metallic chemical element”) is from the association in medieval alchemy of the seven known metals—gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, iron, tin, and lead—with the Sun, the Moon, and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. An analogy was probably also drawn between the element being liquid at room temperature, and the Roman god Mercury’s attribute of swiftness.[2]

Noun sense 2 (“senses relating to plants”) is derived from mercurial (“(obsolete) any of the plants now known as mercury”, noun),[2] from Middle English mercurial (“a plant, probably goosefoot (genus Chenopodium); (possibly) dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis)”, noun)[3] 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”) (see above) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).[4]

Noun sense 2.2.2.1 (“Blitum bonus-henricus”) is from the fact that this plant was often confused with annual mercury (noun sense 2.1).[2]

The verb is derived from the noun.[5]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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mercury (countable and uncountable, plural mercuries)

  1. (uncountable) Senses relating to the metal.
    2. A silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element (symbol Hg) with the atomic number 80; it is liquid at room temperature, and toxic. [from 14th c.]
      Synonyms: (alchemic symbol) ☿, (alchemy) azoth, (in medical and sometimes chemical use) hydrargyrum, (non-technical use) quicksilver
      • 1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], “Of the Myne of Golde and the Qualitie therof in Particular”, in Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], transl., The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, […], London: […] [Rycharde Jug for] Guilhelmi Powell, →OCLC, decade, folio 335, verso:
        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, […]
      • 1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “[Experiment 3]”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects, (Made, for the Most Part, in a New Pneumatical Engine) […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] H[enry] Hall, printer to the University, for Tho[mas] Robinson, published 1660, →OCLC, page 42:
        [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: […]
      • 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Spring”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 323:
        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.
      • 1857–1858, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], chapter II, in The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, published 1858, →OCLC, page 35:
        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.
    3. Preceded by the: mercury (noun sense 1.1) as used in the column of a barometer or thermometer, its fall or rise thus indicating the decrease or increase of ambient pressure or temperature. [from 17th c.]
      The mercury there has averaged 37.6°C, 2.3°C above the February norm.
      • 1857–1858, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], “V. Our Sumatra Correspondence.”, in The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, published 1858, →OCLC, page 134:
        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.
      • 2022 June 16, Ashifa Kassam, “‘They’re being cooked’: Baby swifts die leaving nests as heatwave hits Spain”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 October 2025:
        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.
      • 2022 August 10, “How can We Run Trains when the Heat is on?”, in Rail, number 963, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, image caption, page 45:
        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.
    4. (medicine, historical) A preparation containing mercury (noun sense 1.1), especially calomel (mercurous chloride) or corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride), formerly used as a medicine to treat syphilis, etc.
      • 1676, Richard Wiseman, “The First Book. A Treatise of Tumours. Chapter II. Of the Remedies Generally Used in the Cure.”, in Severall Chirurgicall Treatises, London: […] E. Flesher and J. Macock, for R[ichard] Royston […], and B[enjamin] Took, […], →OCLC, page 8:
        [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.
      • 1722 March, H[enry] F[oe] [pseudonym; Daniel Defoe], A Journal of the Plague Year: […], London: […] E[lizabeth] Nutt […]; J. Roberts […]; A. Dodd […]; and J. Graves […], →OCLC, page 38:
        [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.
    5. (sciences, historical) One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals. [from 15th c.]
    6. (figurative, obsolete) Liveliness, volatility. [17th–18th c.]
      • 1682, [John Dryden], The Medall. A Satyre Against Sedition. […], Edinburgh: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 11:
        Religion thou haſt none: thy Mercury / Has paſs'd though every Sect, or theirs through Thee.
      • 1693, Will[iam] Congreve, The Old Batchelour, a Comedy. […], London: […] Peter Buck, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 5:
        [A]s able as your ſelf and as nimble too, though I mayn't have ſo much Mercury in my Limbs; […]
      • 1704, [Jonathan Swift], “The Preface”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC:
        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.
      • a. 1716 (date written), [Gilbert] Burnet, “Book II. Of the First Twelve Years of the Reign of King Charles II. from the Year 1660 to the Year 1673.”, in [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume I, London: […] Thomas Ward […], published 1724, →OCLC, page 265:
        He [The Duke of Buckingham] vvas ſo full of mercury, that he could not fix long in any friendſhip, or to any deſign.
      • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle II, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 13, lines 165–168:
        [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.
      • a. 1798 (date written), Horace Walpole, “Memoires of the Year 1756. Admiral Byng’s Dispatch.”, in Memoires of the Last Ten Years of the Reign of George the Second. […] (The Works of Horatio Walpole, Earl of Orford; VII), volume II, London: [Thomas Davison for] John Murray, […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 59:
        Charles Townshend undertook a weekly paper, called the Test, of which only one number was published: he had too much mercury and too little ill-nature to continue a periodical war.
  3. (countable) Senses relating to plants.
    2. An annual plant, now generally called annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), chiefly native to central and southern Europe which was formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury. [from 14th c.]
      Synonym: mercurial
      • 1548, William Turner, “Mercurialis”, in The Names of Herbes in Greke, Latin, Englishe Duche & Frenche wyth the Commune Names that Herbaries and Apotecaries Use. […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] John Day and Wyllyam Seres, […], →OCLC, signature E.iiij., verso:
        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.
      • 1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of French Mercurie”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 262:
        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.
      • 1652, Nich[olas] Culpeper, “French, and Dogs Mercury”, in The English Physitian: Or An Astrologo-physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of This Nation. […], London: […] Peter Cole, […], →OCLC, page 81, column 1:
        [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: […]
    3. Chiefly with a descriptive word.
      1. Any of several plants of the genus Mercurialis; specifically (obsolete), dog's mercury or wild mercury (Mercurialis perennis).
        • 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Mercurie”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Sundry Sortes of Herbes and Plantes), page 78:
          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.
          Mercurialis annua (noun sense 2.1) or Mercurialis tomentosa.
        • 1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of Wilde Mercurie”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, pages 263–264:
          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.
        • 1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “Of the Mole or Want”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 501:
          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.
        • 1652, Nich[olas] Culpeper, “Dogs Mercury”, in The English Physitian: Or An Astrologo-physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of This Nation. […], London: […] Peter Cole, […], →OCLC, page 81, column 2:
          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.
      2. Any of several plants resembling Mercurialis plants but of a different genus, or having similar medicinal or toxic qualities as annual mercury or dog's mercury.
        2. (Northern England) Allgood or Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus), a species of goosefoot native to central and southern Europe formerly cultivated as a vegetable but now generally regarded as a weed; English mercury, false mercury (obsolete). [from 15th c.]
          • 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Algood”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 5th part (Herbes, Rootes, and Fruites, whiche are Dayly Vsed in Meates), page 558:
            This herbe is called […] in Engliſh, Good Henry, and Algood: of ſome it is taken for Mercurie.
          • 1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of English Mercurie”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 259:
            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.
        3. (Northeastern US) Poison ivy or poison oak (genus Toxicodendron, especially the eastern poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) or Atlantic poison oak (Toxicodendron pubescens)). [from 18th c.]

Alternative forms

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Hyponyms

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plants

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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mercury (third-person singular simple present mercuries, present participle mercurying, simple past and past participle mercuried) (transitive)

  1. (archaic or obsolete) To apply or coat (something) with mercury (noun sense 1.1) or a preparation containing mercury; specifically (obsolete, rare), to apply to (the face) a preparation of mercury to beautify it.
    • 1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 186:
      […] 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.
      A pun on the fact that Cupid is speaking to Mercury.
    • 1851 September, J. H. Fitzgibbon, “Article V. Daguerreotypeing Simplified”, in M. Tarver, editor, The Western Journal, of Agriculture, Manufactures, Mechanic Arts, Internal Improvement, Commerce, and General Literature, volume VI, number VI, St. Louis, Mo.: […] Moritz Neidner […], →OCLC, page 381:
      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.
    • 1929, Rebecca West [pseudonym; Cicily Isabel Fairfield], chapter V, in Harriet Hume: A London Fantasy, London: Hutchinson & Co. […], →OCLC, page 228:
      An image is but an appearance on glass that has been mercuried. It cannot be a friend.
    • a. 1995 (date written), Lynda Hull, “At the Westland”, in David Wojahn, editor, The Only World: Poems, New York, N.Y.: Harper Perennial, published 1995, →ISBN, part III, page 61:
      [T]he room mercuried / in dusk, pigeon loose / and flying frantic against walls, mirror, chilly xylophone of hangers set ringing by its wings.
      A figurative use.
  2. (medicine, archaic or obsolete) To administer to (someone) a medicine containing mercury.
    • [1863 March 28 – December 26, Charles Reade, chapter III, in Hard Cash: A Matter-of-fact Romance. […] (Collection of British Authors; 731), copyright edition, volume I, Leipzig, Saxony: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1864, →OCLC, page 76:
      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.
      An intransitive use.]

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “Mercurī(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 “mercury, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2025; “mercury, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “mercuriāl, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ “mercurial, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2025; “mercurial, adj. and n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ “† mercury, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

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Middle English

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Noun

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mercury

  1. alternative form of mercurie
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