mer|cu|ry

Mer|cu|ry «MUR kyuhr ee», noun.

1. Roman Mythology. the god who served as the messenger for the other gods. He was the god of commerce, of skill of hands, quickness of wit, eloquence, and thievery. The Greeks called him Hermes.

2. the smallest planet in the solar system and the one nearest to the sun. Its orbit about the sun takes 88 days to complete at a mean distance of almost 36,000,000 miles. Mercury goes around the sun about four times while Earth is going around once.

3. a messenger or bearer of news: »

But what says she to me? Be brief, my good She-Mercury (Shakespeare).

╂[< Latin Mercurius]

mer|cu|ry «MUR kyuhr ee», noun, plural -ries.

1. a heavy, silver-white, metallic chemical element that is liquid at ordinary temperatures; quicksilver. It occurs naturally in the mineral cinnabar and combines with most other metals to form amalgams.

2. the column of mercury in a thermometer or barometer, especially with reference to the temperature or the state of the atmosphere shown by it: »

The mercury dropped below freezing last night.

3. a go-between, especially in amorous affairs.

4. a guide.

5. any one of a group of herbs of the spurge family, especially dog's mercury, a poisonous European weed.

╂[< Medieval Latin mercurius the metal < Latin Mercurius Mercury]