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Word of the day
for February 10
mercury n
  1. (uncountable) Senses relating to the metal.
    1. A silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element (symbol Hg) with the atomic number 80; it is liquid at room temperature, and toxic.
    2. Preceded by the: mercury (noun sense 1.1) as used in the column of a barometer or thermometer, its fall or rise thus indicating the decrease or increase of ambient pressure or temperature.
    3. (medicine, historical) A preparation containing mercury (noun sense 1.1), especially calomel (mercurous chloride) or corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride), formerly used as a medicine to treat syphilis, etc.
    4. (sciences, historical) One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals.
    5. (figurative, obsolete) Liveliness, volatility.
  2. (countable) Senses relating to plants.
    1. An annual plant, now generally called annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), chiefly native to central and southern Europe which was formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury.
    2. Chiefly with a descriptive word.
      1. Any of several plants of the genus Mercurialis; specifically (obsolete), dog's mercury or wild mercury (Mercurialis perennis).
      2. Any of several plants resembling Mercurialis plants but of a different genus, or having similar medicinal or toxic qualities as annual mercury or dog's mercury.
        1. (Northern England) Allgood or Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus), a species of goosefoot native to central and southern Europe formerly cultivated as a vegetable but now generally regarded as a weed; English mercury, false mercury (obsolete).
        2. (Northeastern US) Poison ivy or poison oak (genus Toxicodendron, especially the eastern poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) or Atlantic poison oak (Toxicodendron pubescens)).

mercury v (transitive)

  1. (archaic or obsolete) To apply or coat (something) with mercury (noun sense 1.1) or a preparation containing mercury; specifically (obsolete, rare), to apply to (the face) a preparation of mercury to beautify it.
  2. (medicine, archaic or obsolete) To administer to (someone) a medicine containing mercury.

The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who formulated the periodic law and created a version of the periodic table of elements, was born on 8 February in 1834 according to the Gregorian calendar (27 January by the Julian calendar).

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Foreign word of the day  in Gothic
𐌲𐌰𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 • (gaumjan) verb

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