quicksilver

English

Etymology

From Middle English quyk silver, quyksilver, quikselver, from Old English cwicseolfor (“quicksilver”, literally “living silver”) (see Latin argentum vivum) from its ability to move. See quick in the sense of "living". Cognate with Dutch kwikzilver, German Low German Quicksülver, German Quecksilber, Danish kviksølv, Norwegian Bokmål kvikksølv, Swedish kvicksilver. By surface analysis, quick (“living”) +‎ silver.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: kwĭk'sĭlvər, IPA^(key): /ˈkwɪkˌsɪlvɚ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

quicksilver (uncountable)

1. The metal mercury.
2. (loosely) An amalgam of mercury and tin applied to the backs of mirrors, quicksilvering.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:quicksilver.

Synonyms

• (the metal): mercury, hydrargyrum

Derived terms

terms derived from quicksilver

• quicksilvered
• quicksilver horizon
• quicksilvering
• quicksilverish
• quicksilver plaster
• quicksilver soap
• quicksilver water
• quicksilver weed
• quicksilvery

Translations

mercury

• Bashkir: терегөмөш (teregömöş)
• Bulgarian: живак m (živak)
• Catalan: argent viu m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 水銀／水银 (zh) (shuǐyín)

• Danish: kviksølv (da) n, kviksølver n
• Dutch: kwikzilver (nl) n
• Estonian: elavhõbe (et)
• Faroese: kyksilvur n
• Finnish: elohopea (fi)
• French: vif-argent (fr) m
• Galician: mercurio (gl) m, azougue (gl) m
• Georgian: ვერცხლისწყალი (vercxlisc̣q̇ali), ვერცხლისწყალი (vercxlisc̣q̇ali)
• German: Quecksilber (de) n
• Greek: υδράργυρος (el) m (ydrárgyros)

  Ancient: ὑδράργυρος f (hudrárguros)

• Hebrew: כספית (he) f
• Ingrian: elävähoppia
• Irish: airgead beo m
• Italian: argento vivo (it) m
• Kannada: ಪಾರಜ (kn) (pāraja), ಪಾದರಸ (kn) (pādarasa)
• Korean: 수은(水銀) (ko) (sueun)
• Latin: argentum vivum n, hydrargyrum (la) n,
• Latvian: dzīvsudrabs m
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Low German: Quecksülver (nds) n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kvikksølv n

  Nynorsk: kvikksølv (nn) n, kvikksylv (nn) n

• Ottoman Turkish: جیوه (cive, cıva), سیماب (simab)
• Persian: سیماب (fa) (simâb), جیوه (fa) (jive), ژیوه (fa) (žive)
• Plautdietsch: Kwickselwa n
• Polish: rtęć (pl) f, żywe srebro (pl) n
• Portuguese: mercúrio (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਪਾਰਾ (pa) m (pārā)
• Romanian: mercur (ro) n, argint viu n, hidrargir (ro)
• Russian: ртуть (ru) f (rtutʹ)
• Spanish: mercurio (es) m, azogue (es) m
• Swedish: kvicksilver (sv) n
• Vietnamese: thuỷ ngân (vi), thủy ngân (vi)
• Volapük: hidrargin (vo), (synonym) märkurin (vo)

amalgam used on mirrors

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} argentum vivum, ^{(please verify)} argentum liquidum

Adjective

quicksilver (not comparable)

1. Unpredictable, erratic or fickle; mercurial.
   • 1978 August 19, Kevin Warren, “A Flawless Production”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 5, page 15:

     Summer is not the most auspicious season for theater in New York. Aside from a few certifiable Broadway hits, it is, in fact, a rather quicksilver commodity.

   • 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1]:

     The idea of a merchant selling both totems of pure evil and frozen yogurt (he calls it frogurt!) is amusing in itself, as is the idea that frogurt could be cursed, but it’s really the Shopkeeper’s quicksilver shift from ominous doomsaying to chipper salesmanship that sells the sequence.

Translations

unpredictable, erratic

• German: quecksilbrig

Verb

quicksilver (third-person singular simple present quicksilvers, present participle quicksilvering, simple past and past participle quicksilvered)

1. (transitive) To overlay with quicksilver.
2. (transitive) To treat with quicksilver.

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Quicksilver”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “quicksilver”, in Mindat.org‎^[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.
• “quicksilver”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “quicksilver”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volumes IV (P–Simulant), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.