Mercury
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The planet Mercury 
Mercury's planetary symbol ⟨☿⟩
See also: mercury
English
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Etymology
Inherited from Middle English Mercurie, from Latin Mercurius.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Mercury
- (astronomy) The first planet in the Solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by ☿.
- 1922, E R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros, London: Jonathan Cape, page 1:
- Thou, first of the children of men, art come to Mercury, where thou and I will journey up and down for a season to show thee the lands and oceans, the forests, plains, and ancient mountains, cities and palaces of this world, Mercury, and the doings of them that dwell therein.
- (Roman mythology) The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger, wearing winged sandals; the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes.
Synonyms
- (astronomy, astrology): ☿
Derived terms
Translations
planet
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Roman god
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See also
- (planets of the Solar System) planets of the Solar System; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
| Solar System in English · Solar System (layout · text) | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star | Sun | |||||||||||||||||
| IAU planets and notable dwarf planets |
Mercury | Venus | Earth | Mars | Ceres | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Eris | |||||||
| Notable moons |
— | — | Moon | Phobos Deimos |
— | Io Europa Ganymede Callisto |
Mimas Enceladus Tethys Dione Rhea Titan Iapetus |
Miranda Ariel Umbriel Titania Oberon |
Triton | Charon | Dysnomia | |||||||
Noun
Mercury (plural Mercuries)
- (obsolete, alchemy, chemistry) Quicksilver, mercury. (No longer capitalized, as the name of the metal is no longer recognized as that of the planet.)
- (archaic) A carrier of tidings.
- A newsboy, a messenger.
- A footman.
- 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1853, →OCLC:
- Enter Mr. Tulkinghorn, followed by Mercuries with lamps and candles.
- Someone who carries messages between lovers; a go-between.
- 1751, Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., , →OCLC:
- His Mercury having made his observations, reported, that there was no body in the coach but Mrs. Hornbeck and an elderly woman, who had all the air of a duenna, and that the servant was not the same footman who had attended them in France.
- A newspaper.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- No allusion to it is to be found in the monthly Mercuries.
Further reading
Mercury (planet) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - Mercury (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “Mercury”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)
Middle English
Proper noun
Mercury
- Alternative form of Mercurie