Standard Lemma guide

mercurial

adj · noun · 15 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /mɝˈkjʊ.ɹi.əl/
  • General-American: /-ˈkjɔ-/
  • CMU ARPABET: M ER0 K Y UH1 R IY0 AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having a lively or volatile character; animated, changeable, quick-witted.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: comparable

Examples

  • his mercurial temperament

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fickle, unpredictable

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see adjective sense 1).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: astrology, human-sciences, mysticism, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Pertaining to the planet Mercury.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Of or pertaining to the element mercury or quicksilver; containing mercury.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Caused by the action of mercury or a mercury compound.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adj

Meaning 6

Pertaining to Mercury, the Roman god of, among other things, commerce, financial gain, communication, and thieves and trickery; hence (comparable), money-making; crafty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Roman, not-comparable

Topics: human-sciences, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, sciences

Examples

  • Near-synonym: Hermesian

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Hermesian

Antonyms: none provided

7

adj

Meaning 7

Alternative letter-case form of mercurial.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A person born under the influence of the planet Mercury; hence, a person having an eloquent, quickwitted, furtive, or volatile character.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astrology, human-sciences, mysticism, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

A chemical compound containing mercury.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

A preparation of mercury, especially as a treatment for syphilis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: medicine, pharmacology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

adjective

Meaning 12

relating to or containing or caused by mercury

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • mercurial preparations
  • mercurial sore mouth

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

adjective

Meaning 13

relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • more than Mercurial thievishness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

adjective

Meaning 14

relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the Mercurial canals

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

adjective satellite

Meaning 15

liable to sudden unpredictable change

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • erratic behavior
  • fickle weather
  • mercurial twists of temperament
  • a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: erratic, fickle, quicksilver(a)

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial (“a plant, probably the goosefoot (Chenopodium); (possibly) dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis)”), from Anglo-Norman mercurial, Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon Latin mercuriālis (“a plant, probably annual mercury (Mercurialis annua)”), short for herba mercuriālis (“(probably) annual mercury”, literally “herb or plant of the god Mercury”). Mercuriālis (“pertaining to the Roman god Mercury”, adjective) is derived from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuriālis (adjective), whence Middle English mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: حَامِي الطَّبْع (ḥāmī ṭ-ṭabʕ) — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Arabic: مِزَاجِيّ (mizājiyy) — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Catalan: llunàtic — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Czech: rtuťovitý — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • French: lunatique — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • German: sprunghaft — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • German: launenhaft — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • German: lebhaft — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Italian: incostante — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Italian: lunatico — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Italian: mutevole — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Italian: volubile — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Norwegian Bokmål: springende — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Norwegian Bokmål: flyktig — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Russian: сообрази́тельный (soobrazítelʹnyj) — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Russian: нахо́дчивый (naxódčivyj) — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Spanish: lunático — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Spanish: voluble — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Spanish: volátil — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Vietnamese: lanh lợi — having a lively or volatile character — see also animated, changeable, quick-witted
  • Catalan: mercurial — pertaining to the Roman god Mercury
  • Portuguese: mercuriano — pertaining to the Roman god Mercury
  • Spanish: mercurial — pertaining to the Roman god Mercury
  • Middle English: mercurial — pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury
  • Middle English: Mercurial — pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury
  • Portuguese: mercuriano — pertaining to the planet Mercury
  • Spanish: mercurial — pertaining to the planet Mercury
  • Bulgarian: живачен (živačen) — of or pertaining to the element mercury
  • Interlingua: mercurial — of or pertaining to the element mercury
  • Spanish: mercurial — of or pertaining to the element mercury
  • Spanish: mercúrico — of or pertaining to the element mercury
  • Bulgarian: съдържащ живак (sǎdǎržašt živak) — containing the element mercury
  • Catalan: mercurial — containing the element mercury
  • Dutch: kwikhoudend — containing the element mercury
  • Finnish: elohopeapitoinen — containing the element mercury
  • French: mercuriel — containing the element mercury
  • German: quecksilberhaltig — containing the element mercury
  • Russian: рту́тный (rtútnyj) — containing the element mercury