A Dictionary of the English Language
                        A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson
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Mercurial

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 1286

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 1286

Mércurial. adj. [mercurialis, Lat.]

  1. Formed under the influence of mercury; active; sprightly.

    I know the shape of 's leg: This is his hand,
    His foot mercurial, his martial thigh,
    The brawns of Hercules.     Shakesp. Cymbeline.

    This youth was such a mercurial, as could make his own part, if at any time he chanced to be out. Bacon's Hen. VII.

    Tully considered the dispositions of a sincere, more ignorant, and less mercurial nation, by dwelling on the pathetick part. Swift's Miscel.

  2. Consisting of quicksilver.

Sources: Bacon, Francis (396) · Shakespeare's Cymbeline (73) · Swift, Jonathan (306)

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Cite this page: Johnson, Samuel. "Mercurial." A Dictionary of the English Language: A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson. Edited by Brandi Besalke. Last modified: December 12, 2011. https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/mercurial/.

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