MERCURY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Mercury mean? 

• MERCURY (noun)
  The noun MERCURY has 4 senses:

1. a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures

2. (Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes

3. the smallest planet and the nearest to the sun

4. temperature measured by a mercury thermometer

  Familiarity information: MERCURY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MERCURY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 80; Hg; hydrargyrum; mercury; quicksilver

Hypernyms ("mercury" is a kind of...):

metal; metallic element (any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.)

Holonyms ("mercury" is a substance of...):

cinnabar (a heavy reddish mineral consisting of mercuric sulfide; the chief source of mercury)

calomel; mercurous chloride (a tasteless colorless powder used medicinally as a cathartic)

Derivation:

mercurial (relating to or containing or caused by mercury)

mercuric; mercurous (of or containing mercury)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

Roman deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Romans)

Domain category:

Roman mythology (the mythology of the ancient Romans)

Derivation:

Mercurial (relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The smallest planet and the nearest to the sun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

inferior planet (any of the planets whose orbit lies inside the earth's orbit)

terrestrial planet (a planet having a compact rocky surface like the Earth's; the four innermost planets in the solar system)

Holonyms ("Mercury" is a member of...):

solar system (the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Temperature measured by a mercury thermometer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the mercury was falling rapidly

Hypernyms ("mercury" is a kind of...):

temperature (the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment (corresponding to its molecular activity))

 Context examples 

On the same day as the full moon, your ruler Mercury will go direct.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Mercury is an element that is found in air, water and soil.

(Mercury, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)

Forms of the element mercury found in foods.

(Dietary Mercury, NCI Thesaurus/CRCH)

Ice in cold traps has previously been spotted on Mercury and, in a few cases, on the moon.

(Where is the Ice on Ceres?, NASA)

Previous observations of the poles of Mercury with Earth-based radar revealed a signature characteristic of thick, pure ice deposits.

(The Moon and Mercury May Have Thick Ice Deposits, NASA)

The models review two possible orbits: one tidally locked and one modeled after Mercury's, with a slow-rotating three days per year.

(Simulations show planet orbiting Proxima Centauri could have liquid water, Wikinews)

It orbits 11 times closer to its star than Mercury does our Sun.

(Confirmation of Toasty TESS Planet Leads to Surprising Find of Promising World, NASA)

A unit of resistance equal to the number of millimeters of mercury per unit of volume equal to one liter per unit of time equal to one minute.

(Millimeter Mercury Per Liter Per Minute, NCI Thesaurus)

A unit of measure equal to the number of milliliters per unit of time equal to one minute per unit of pressure equal to one milliter of mercury (mmHg).

(Milliliter per Minute per Millimeters of Mercury, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A unit of pressure equal to 0.001316 atmosphere and equal to the pressure indicated by one millimeter rise of mercury in a barometer at the Earth's surface.

(Millimeter of Mercury, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)