different between mercury vs metacinnabar

English

Etymology

From Mercury.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m??.kj?.?i/
• (US) enPR: mûr'k?r?, IPA^(key): /?m?kj??i/

Noun

mercury (countable and uncountable, plural mercuries)

1. A metal.
   1. A silvery-colored, toxic, metallic chemical element, liquid at room temperature, with atomic number 80 and symbol Hg. [from 14th c.]

      Synonyms: (in alchemy) azoth, (in medical and sometimes chemical use) hydrargyrum, (not in technical use) quicksilver

   2. (sciences, historical) One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals. [from 15th c.]
   3. (with definite article) Ambient pressure or temperature (from the use of mercury in barometers and thermometers). [from 17th c.]

   4. (obsolete) Liveliness, volatility. [17th-18th c.]

      • He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long in any friendship, or to any design.

2. Any of several types of plant.
   2. An annual plant, annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury. [from 14th c.]

      Synonym: mercurial

      • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 188:

        Towards the tops of the stalks and branches come forth at every joint in the male Mercury two small round green heads, standing together upon a short footstalk, which growing ripe are the seeds, not having any flower.

   3. Any plant of any species of the genus and the genus Mercurialis.
   4. A similar edible plant (Blitum bonus-henricus), otherwise known as English mercury or allgood. [from 15th c.]
   5. (US, regional) The poison oak or poison ivy. [from 18th c.]

Derived terms

Related terms

• mercaptan
• Mercury

Translations

See also

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2021) , “Mercury”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database
• “mercury”, in Mindat.org?^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2021.

Middle English

Noun

mercury

1. Alternative form of mercurie

English

Etymology

meta- +? cinnabar

Noun

metacinnabar (uncountable)

1. (mineralogy) A isometric-hextetrahedral form of the mineral, cinnabar, containing mercury and sulfur and ranging from black to grayish white.

References

• David Barthelmy (1997–2021) , “Metacinnabar”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database