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quicksilver

Pronunciation: /ˈkwɪkˌsɪlvɚ/

The English word “quicksilver” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The metal mercury.
  2. An amalgam of mercury and tin applied to the backs of mirrors; quicksilvering.

adjective

  1. Unpredictable, erratic, or fickle; mercurial.

verb

  1. To overlay with quicksilver.
  2. To treat with quicksilver.

Etymology

From Middle English quyk silver, quyksilver, quikselver, from Old English cwicseolfor (“quicksilver”, literally “living silver”) (see Latin argentum vīvum) from its ability to move. See quick in the sense of "living". Cognate with Dutch kwikzilver, German Low German Quicksülver, German Quecksilber, Danish kviksølv, Norwegian Bokmål kvikksølv, Swedish kvicksilver. By surface analysis, quick…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.