Definition

1. Noun:

   • Mercury: A heavy, silvery, toxic metallic element that is liquid at ordinary temperatures. It is the only metal that exists in a liquid state under standard conditions.

2. Adjective:

   • Changeable, volatile: Liable to sudden, rapid, and unpredictable change. Describes a character, mood, or situation that is erratic and fickle.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The old thermometer contained quicksilver.
  • Handling quicksilver requires caution due to its toxicity.

• Adjective:

  • Her quicksilver moods made her difficult to predict.
  • The plot had a quicksilver quality, shifting direction without warning.

Advanced Usage

• Literary/Figurative Use: The adjective form is often used in literary contexts to describe something that is brilliantly fast, elusive, or constantly changing.
  • He had a quicksilver wit, always ready with a clever reply.
  • The dancer's quicksilver movements captivated the audience.

Variants and Related Words

• Mercurial (adj): Having the characteristics of the god Mercury, especially eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, and thievishness. Now more commonly used than 'quicksilver' to describe a volatile or changeable temperament.
  • His mercurial rise to fame was followed by an equally sudden fall.

Synonyms

• Noun: Mercury, Hg (chemical symbol), hydrargyrum.
• Adjective: Volatile, capricious, erratic, fickle, changeable, mercurial, unpredictable, inconstant.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• To have quicksilver in one's veins: To be extremely lively, restless, or energetic. (This idiom uses the noun 'quicksilver' figuratively).
  • The young explorer seemed to have quicksilver in his veins, never able to sit still.

Adjective

1. liable to sudden unpredictable change
   • erratic behavior
   • fickle weather
   • mercurial twists of temperament
   • a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next

Noun

1. a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures