| 释义 |
mercurial, a. and n.|mɜːˈkjʊərɪəl|
[a. F. mercuriel and (as n., in the sense B 1) mercurial, ad. L. mercuriāl-is, f. Mercuri-us Mercury: see -al1.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of or pertaining to the god Mercury; resembling what pertains to Mercury. Now rare.
† mercurial statue, mercurial stone: cf. Mercury 2.
1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev., 1st Masque, A Petasus or Mercurial hat. 1611Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 310, I know the shape of 's Legge: this is his Hand, His Foote Mercuriall: his martiall Thigh, The brawns of Hercules. 1637Earl Stirling Parænesis to the Prince lxxv, O! how this (deare Prince) the people charmes,..To see thee yong, yet manage so thine Armes, Have a Mercuriall minde and Martiall hands. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. iii. §34. 146 As the Wisemen were led by the Starre, or as a traveller is directed by a Mercuriall statue. 1716Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 282, I take them to be old mile Stones, or Mercurial Stones. 1874Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. xiii. 285 A mercurial poise upon the ankle.
b. nonce-use. Applied to the ‘profession’ of thieving.
1744Whitehead Gymnasiad i. 37 note, Tricking, lying, evasion,..are a sort of properties pertaining to the practice of the law, as well as to the mercurial profession.
2. Pertaining to the planet Mercury. † Also in Astrology, influenced by Mercury, proceeding from the influence of Mercury. mercurial finger: the little finger. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. III. 130 The sexte..Canis minor is; The which sterre is Mercurial Be weie of kinde. 1610B. Jonson Alchemist i. iii, Svb...I knew't, by certaine spots too, in his teeth, And on the naile of his mercurial finger. Fac. Which finger's that? Svb. His little finger. 1625Hart Anat. Ur. ii. x. 120 Wilt thou..maintaine, that all Mercuriall diseases are seated in the head onely? a1668Sir W. Waller Div. Medit. (1839) 40 Generally men are like that mercurial planet, good or bad according to their conjunction with others. 1690Leybourn Curs. Math. 451 b, I shall forbear to add those distinctions which some have given them [sc. Comets] in reference to the Planets, they making some Solar, others Lunar, Mercurial..and Saturnine. 1862G. Wilson Relig. Chem. 59 The mercurial day being, like our own, twenty-four hours long. 1881Proctor Poetry Astron. vii. 252 The Mercurial climate.
3. Of persons: Born under the planet Mercury; having the qualities supposed to proceed from such a nativity, as eloquence, ingenuity, aptitude for commerce.
These qualities are identical with those assigned by the ancients to the god Mercury, or supposed to be due to his inspiration. Hence in some of the following quots. the allusion may be rather mythological than astrological, or perh. a mixture of the two.
1593G. Harvey Pierces Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 63 You that intende to be fine companionable gentlemen,..enure your Mercuriall fingers to frame semblable workes of Supererogation. 1647Lilly Chr. Astrol. lxxix. 438 Mercuriall men, viz. Schollars, or Divines would be his enemies. 1652Urquhart Jewel Wks. (1834) 240 He speaks too well to be valiant; he is certainly more Mercurial than military. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 287 His mind being more Martial than Mercurial, he [W. Monson] applied himself to Sea-service.
4. Volatile, sprightly, and ready-witted. Originally a specific use of sense 3; now commonly apprehended as alluding to the properties of the metal mercury.
1647Trapp Comm. Jas. i. 1 The most nimble and Mercuriall wits in the world, but light. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. v. i. §40 He none of the most Mercurial amongst the Conclave of Cardinals, but a good heavy man. 1709Steele Tatler No. 30 ⁋3 One of them was a mercurial gay-humour'd Man. 1827Disraeli Viv. Grey v. ix, The gay, gallant, mercurial Frenchman. 1873Dixon Two Queens I. ii. iii. 84 The people were a quick, mercurial, and artistic race. 1903Contemp. Rev. Sept. 327 That curious, monkeyish, mercurial person M. Guyot de Montpeyroux.
5. Of or pertaining to mercury or quicksilver; consisting of or containing mercury. Also, of certain diseases or symptoms (e.g. mercurial eczema, mercurial glossitis, mercurial rash): Produced by the exhibition of mercury. Hence, occas., of an organ, etc.: Showing ‘mercurial’ symptoms.
mercurial ointment: the ‘blue ointment’ composed of metallic mercury triturated with lard. mercurial (pneumatic) trough: a pneumatic trough filled with mercury.
1657G. Starkey Helmont's Vind. Epist. Rdr., I have..rejected all Mercurial and Antimonial Medicaments, either Vomitive, Purgative, or Salivative. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xvii. 108 The height of the Mercurial Cylinder. 1693Halley in Phil. Trans. XVII. 652 The precise nicety of the Mercurial Barometers. 1744Berkeley Siris §100 A mercurial salivation is looked on by many as the only cure. 1786J. Hunter Venereal Dis. (1810) vi. iii. 503 The gums, inside of the cheeks, and the breath, were truly mercurial. 1789Cullen Mat. Med. II. 306 Our common mercurial ointment. 1807Med. Jrnl. XVII. 379 What the author calls the mercurial rash, or, as it is called by some others, the Lepra mercurialis. a1823M. Baillie Wks. (1825) I. 13 Mercurial frictions were also employed. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 525 This [Graham's] pendulum, which is called the mercurial pendulum. 1836–41Brande Chem. (ed. 5) 401 It may often be..collected in dry phials, without a mercurial trough. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxviii. 362 An eruption, to which the name mercurial eczema has been given. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 477 Mercurial Gauge, a curved tube partly filled with mercury, to show the pressure of steam in an engine. 1873W. F. Clarke Dis. Tongue 105 But happily ‘mercurial glossitis’ is now seldom seen. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 78 He obtained it from the red mercurial powder. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 189 In the mercurial pendulum the jar of mercury does not answer so quickly to a change of temperature as the steel rod.
†6. Old Chem. Pertaining to, or consisting of, ‘mercury’ as one of the five ‘principles’ of bodies (see Mercury 8). Obs.
1605Timme Quersit. i. v. 20 Sal amoniac doth participate of the mercurial beginning. 1633Hart Diet of Diseased ii. xvii. 206 The mercuriall or waterish part [of milk] called serum.
B. n.
†1. The plant mercury. Obs. [= L. (herba) mercurialis, OF. mercuriel, mod.F. mercuriale.]
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 536 Take as much Mercurial sodden, as one's hand can hold,..and drink the same. 1626Bacon Sylva §41 Medecines Emollient; Such as are Milk, Honey, Mallowes, Lettuce, Mercuriall [etc.].
†2. A person born under the influence of the planet Mercury, or having the qualities characteristic of such a nativity; a lively or sprightly person; also, one addicted to cheating and thieving. Obs.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. ii. Imposture 443 Who, for sustayning of unequall Scale, Dreads not the Doom of a Mercuriall. 1614T. Tomkis Albumazar i. i. (1615) B, Come braue Mercurials sublim'd in cheating,..fellow-souldiers I'th' watchfull exercise of Theevery. 1622Bacon Hen. VII 113 This Youth..was such a Mercuriall, as the like hath seldome beene knowne. 1650R. Gentilis Considerat. 156 The Mercurials with their swiftnesse run over all things. 1696Phillips, Mercurial, or Mercurialist, one born under the Planet Mercury.
3. A preparation of mercury used as a drug in the cure of certain diseases; also more widely, any compound that contains mercury.
1676Wiseman Surg. vii. iv. 40 By Mercurials we do more certainly resolve them [nodes] and in a less time. 1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. 352 The great Pox, which can scarce ever be cur'd without Viperals or Mercurials. 1735Bracken in Burdon's Pocket-Farrier 71 note, The Cure is perform'd by Mercurials outwardly and inwardly. 1829–32R. Christison Treat. Poisons xiii. (ed. 2) 380 The blue ointment, which is made of running mercury, will act as a mercurial when rubbed upon the skin. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 151 The judicious employment of mercurials might prove highly beneficial. 1971Sci. Amer. May 18/3 Among other inorganic mercurials, some of the oxides, such as the red oxide used in antifouling paint for ship bottoms may be potentially hazardous. 1971Nature 23 July 222/1 The build-up of alkyl mercurials in the environment and their toxicological properties was the subject of many of the contributions. |