different between mercurial vs unstable
mercurial
English
Etymology
Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial, mercuryal (“a plant, probably the goosefoot (Chenopodium); (possibly) dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis)”), from Anglo-Norman mercurial and Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon Latin mercuri?lis (“a plant, probably annual mercury (Mercurialis annua)”), from mercuri?lis (“pertaining to the Roman god Mercury”, adjective), from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -?lis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).
Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuri?lis (adjective), whence Middle English mercurial, Mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /m???kj??.??.?l/
- (General American) IPA(key): /m??kj?.?i.?l/, /-?kj?-/
- Hyphenation: mer?cu?ri?al
Noun
mercurial (plural mercurials)
- (obsolete) Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua). [13th–17th c.]
- (astrology) A person born under the influence of the planet Mercury; hence, a person having an animated, lively, quick-witted or volatile character. [from 16th c.]
- (chemistry) A chemical compound containing mercury.
- (pharmacology, historical) A preparation of mercury, especially as a treatment for syphilis. [from 17th c.]
Alternative forms
- mercuriall (obsolete)
Translations
Adjective
mercurial (comparative more mercurial, superlative most mercurial)
- (comparable) Having a lively or volatile character; animated, changeable, quick-witted. [from 17th c.]
- Synonyms: fickle, unpredictable
- (not comparable, astrology) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see adjective sense 1). [from 16th c.]
- (not comparable, astronomy) Pertaining to the planet Mercury. [from 14th c.]
- (not comparable, chemistry) Of or pertaining to the element mercury or quicksilver; containing mercury. [from 16th c.]
- (not comparable, medicine) Caused by the action of mercury or a mercury compound.
- (not comparable, Roman mythology) Pertaining to Mercury, the Roman god of, among other things, commerce, financial gain, communication, and thieves and trickery; hence (comparable), money-making; crafty. [from 15th c.]
Alternative forms
- mercuriall (obsolete)
- (pertaining to the Roman god Mercury or planet Mercury): Mercurial
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Notes
References
Further reading
- Mercurialis (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- mercury (element) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Mercury (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Mercury (planet) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Interlingua
Adjective
mercurial (not comparable)
- mercurial, pertaining to mercury (metal)
Middle English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin mercuri?lis, Mercuri?lis (“pertaining to the Roman god Mercury”).
Noun
mercurial (uncountable)
- (botany) A plant belonging to the genus Chenopodium; a goosefoot.
- Synonym: mercurie
Alternative forms
- mercuriale
Adjective
mercurial
- (astrology, astronomy) Pertaining to or under the influence of the planet Mercury.
Alternative forms
- Mercurial
Descendants
- English: mercurial
References
- “mercuri?l, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 5 May 2019.
- “Mercuri?l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 5 May 2019.
Romanian
Etymology
From French mercuriel, from Latin mercurialis.
Adjective
mercurial m or n (feminine singular mercurial?, masculine plural mercuriali, feminine and neuter plural mercuriale)
- mercurial
Declension
Spanish
Adjective
mercurial (plural mercuriales)
- mercurial
mercurial From the web:
- what mercurial meaning
- what mercurial barometer
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- what the mercurial superfly
unstable
English
Etymology
un- +? stable
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?n?ste?b??/
- Rhymes: -e?b?l
Adjective
unstable (comparative more unstable, superlative most unstable)
- Having a strong tendency to change.
- Fluctuating; not constant.
- Fickle.
- Unpredictable.
- (chemistry) Readily decomposable.
- (physics) Radioactive, especially with a short half-life.
Synonyms
- (having strong tendency to change): labile
- (fluctuating, not constant): instable (rare); see also Thesaurus:unsteady
- (fickle): arbitrary, capricious
- (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): tottering, unsteady, wobbly; see also Thesaurus:rickety
Antonyms
- stable
Related terms
- instability
- unstability (rare)
Translations
Verb
unstable (third-person singular simple present unstables, present participle unstabling, simple past and past participle unstabled)
- (transitive) To release (an animal) from a stable.
Anagrams
- abluents, ant-blues, bleaunts, blue ants, tunables, unablest
unstable From the web:
- what unstable element decays fast
- what unstable means
- what's unstable angina
- what unstable isotopes
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- what unstable particle
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- what's unstable lie
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