mercurialis perennis

2 definitions found

mercurialis perennis - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Mercury \Mer"cu*ry\, n. [L. Mercurius; akin to merx wares.]
     1. (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.
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     2. (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, [mercury].
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     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[deg]
           Centigrade to a soft, malleable, ductile metal.
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     3. (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.
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     4. A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also,
        a newspaper. --Sir J. Stephen. "The monthly Mercuries."
        --Macaulay.
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     5. Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability;
        fickleness. [Obs.]
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              He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long
              in any friendship, or to any design.  --Bp. Burnet.
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     6. (Bot.) A plant (Mercurialis annua), of the Spurge
        family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for
        spinach, in Europe.
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     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.
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     Dog's mercury (Bot.), Mercurialis perennis, a perennial
        plant differing from Mercurialis annua by having the
        leaves sessile.
  
     English mercury (Bot.), a kind of goosefoot formerly used
        as a pot herb; -- called Good King Henry.
  
     Horn mercury (Min.), a mineral chloride of mercury, having
        a semitranslucent, hornlike appearance.
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mercurialis perennis - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Mercurialis perennis
      n 1: European perennial weedy plant with greenish flowers [syn:
           dog's mercury, dog mercury, Mercurialis perennis]