Quicksilver

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkwɪkˌsɪlvɚ/

Definitions

1. A shiny, liquid metal that flows easily and is used in thermometers, also known as mercury
2. A highly reflective liquid metal element that moves fluidly at room temperature and appears silvery, historically employed in scientific instruments and industrial applications
3. A fluid precious metal characterized by its brilliant sheen and rapid movement, traditionally utilized in thermometers and mirrors due to its unique flowing properties

Etymology: Mercury's liquid silver was once called "living silver," and the English name still carries that idea. The Old English form "cwicseolfor" combined "cwic," meaning alive, with "seolfor," meaning silver. "Quick" in this sense was the older word for living, as in the phrase "the quick and the dead," and the metal was named for its restless, lively movement: it beads up, rolls, and slips away from the touch. The same image appears across the Germanic languages. Dutch "kwikzilver," German "Quecksilber," and Swedish "kvicksilver" all preserve it, and Latin speakers described the metal as "argentum vivum," also meaning living silver. The English compound was therefore a shared translation of an old idea rather than a distinctly English invention. Over the centuries, the English spelling moved from "quyk silver" to the single word we use now, and "quick" lost its sense of living while "silver" kept its meaning. Only the compound remembers the older sense.

Synonyms: mercury, liquid metal