hydrargyrum
English
Alternative forms
- (with a pseudo-Greek -on case ending, suggesting a noble gas) hydrargyron (obsolete)
- (with a Latin -um case ending) hydrargyrum (current)
- (without a case ending) hydrargire, hydrargirie, hydrargyre (all obsolete)
- (abbreviation) hydrarg. (currency uncertain)
Etymology
From New Latin hydrargyrum (“mercury”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /haɪˈdɹɑː(ɹ)d͡ʒɪɹəm/
Noun
hydrargyrum (uncountable)
- (chemistry, medicine) Mercury (chemical element)
- Synonyms: (alchemy) azoth, (standard term) mercury, (dated or evocative) quicksilver
- 1706, Edward Phillips, compiler, J[ohn] K[ersey the younger], “Hydrargyrum”, in The New World of Words: Or, Universal English Dictionary. […], 6th edition, London: […] J. Phillips, […]; N. Rhodes, […]; and J. Taylor, […], →OCLC, column 2:
- Hydrargyrum, Quick-ſilver, a Mineral, of a ſtrange piercing Quality, ſo as to eat thro' Gold, Silver, &c.
- 1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter XIV, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 129:
- ‘There is a channel in the spine of her blade, and in it runs a river of hydrargyrum—a metal heavier than iron, though it flows like water.’
Derived terms
- hydrargyral = hydrargyrate = hydrargyric = hydrargyrous
- hydrargyria = hydrargyriasis = hydrargyrism = hydrargyrosis = hydrargysm
Translations
cognate translations of hydrargyrum — otherwise see mercury
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References
- NED V (H–K; 1st ed., 1901), § 1 (H), page 482/3, “‖Hydrargyrum”
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /hyˈdrar.ɡy.rum/, [hʏˈd̪rärɡʏrʊ̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /iˈdrar.d͡ʒi.rum/, [iˈd̪rärd͡ʒirum]
Etymology 1
A regularly inflected form of hydrargyrus.
Etymology 2
| Chemical element | |
|---|---|
| Hg | |
| Previous: aurum (Au) | |
| Next: thallium (Tl) | |
An alteration of the Classical Latin hydrargyrus (“quicksilver (artificially prepared)”), by analogy with the names of other metals, such as aurum (“gold”) and argentum (“silver”).
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter).
Descendants
- Translingual: Hg
- English: hydrargyrum
- French: hydrargyre
- Russian: гидра́ргирум (gidrárgirum)
Further reading
hydrargyrum on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia la
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