Mercury

Inherited from Middle English Mercurie, from Latin Mercurius.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜː(ɹ)kjʊɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɝkjəɹi/, /ˈmɝk(ə)ɹi/

• Audio (US):

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Mercury

2. (astronomy) The first planet in the Solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by ☿.
4. (Roman mythology) The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger, wearing winged sandals; the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes.

• (astronomy, astrology): ☿

• (planets of the Solar System) planets of the Solar System; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Mercury (plural Mercuries)

1. (obsolete, alchemy, chemistry) Quicksilver, mercury. (No longer capitalized, as the name of the metal is no longer recognized as that of the planet.)
2. (archaic) A carrier of tidings.
   1. A newsboy, a messenger. [16th–19th c.]
   2. 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.

   3. Someone who carries messages between lovers; a go-between. [from 17th c.]
      • 1751, [Tobias] 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.

   4. A newspaper. [from 17th c.]
      • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 21, 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.

• Mercury (planet) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Mercury (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Mercury

1. Alternative form of Mercurie