Meaning and Origin
What does the name Mercury mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
User Submitted Origins
User Submitted Meanings
- According to a user from Canada, the name Mercury is of Roman origin and means "God of Travel and Commerce, Merchandise, Merchants & Thieves".
- According to a user from Kentucky, U.S., the name Mercury is of Roman origin and means "The messenger of the Gods".
- [Rom. Myth] A Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence.
- [Chem] A metallic element mostly obtained by reduction from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque, glistening liquid (commonly called quicksilver), and is used in barometers, thermometers, etc. Specific gravity 13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8. Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and designated by his symbol, ☿.
- [Astron] One of the planets of the solar system, being the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles.
- A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also, a newspaper.Sir J. Stephen."The monthly Mercuries."Macaulay.
- Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability; fickleness.(Obs)"He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long in any friendship, or to any design." [Bp. Burnet.]
- [Bot] A plant (Mercurialis annua), of the Spurge family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for spinach, in Europe.
Note: ☞ Mercury forms alloys, called amalgams, with many metals, and is thus used in applying tin foil to the backs of mirrors, and in extracting gold and silver from their ores. It is poisonous, and is used in medicine in the free state as in blue pill, and in its compounds as calomel, corrosive sublimate, etc. It is the only metal which is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and it solidifies at about -39° Centigrade to a soft, malleable, ductile metal.
Note: ☞ The name is also applied, in the United States, to certain climbing plants, some of which are poisonous to the skin, esp. to the Rhus Toxicodendron, or poison ivy.
Etymology: L. Mercurius; akin to merx wares
- Temperature measured by a mercury thermometer ("the mercury was falling rapidly")
- The smallest planet and the nearest to the sun
- (Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes
- A heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures
From Middle English Mercurie, from Latin Mercurius.
- (astronomy) The planet in the solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by ☿.
- (Roman mythology) The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger. He wore winged sandals. Mercury corresponded to the Greek god Hermes.
- (dated) A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger.
- (dated) A newspaper.
Mercury was also found in the following language(s): Middle English