a. (Astron.) Between the planet Mercury and the sun; -- as, the hypothetical Vulcan is intramercurial. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. mercurialis, fr. Mercurius Mercury: cf. F. mercuriel. ] 1. Having the qualities fabled to belong to the god Mercury; swift; active; sprightly; fickle; volatile; changeable; as, a mercurial youth; a mercurial temperament. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mercurial man
Who fluttered over all things like a fan. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having the form or image of Mercury; -- applied to ancient guideposts. [ Obs. ] Chillingworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of or pertaining to Mercury as the god of trade; hence, money-making; crafty. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mercurial wand of commerce. J. Q. Adams. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Of or pertaining to, or containing, mercury; as, mercurial preparations, barometer. See Mercury, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Med.) Caused by the use of mercury; as, mercurial sore mouth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A person having mercurial qualities. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) A preparation containing mercury. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Mercurial + -ism. ] (Med.) The syndrome produced by poisoning due to exposure to mercury, it fumes, or its compounds; mercury poisoning. Such exposure may occur in mining or smelting, or in using mercurial compounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One under the influence of Mercury; one resembling Mercury in character. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) A physician who uses much mercury, in any of its forms, in his practice. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Mercurialized p. pr. & vb. n. Mercurializing ] 1. (Med.) To affect with mercury. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Photography) To treat with mercury; to expose to the vapor of mercury. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be sprightly, fantastic, or capricious. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a mercurial manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, mercury; containing mercury; -- said of those compounds of mercury into which this element enters in its lowest proportion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mercuric chloride, corrosive sublimate. See mercury bichloride and Corrosive. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. mercurification. See Mercurify. ] 1. (Metal.) The process or operation of obtaining the mercury, in its fluid form, from mercuric minerals. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) The act or process of compounding, or the state of being compounded, with mercury. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Mercurified p. pr. & vb. n. Mercurifying ] [ Mercury + -fy. ] 1. To obtain mercury from, as mercuric minerals, which may be done by any application of intense heat that expels the mercury in fumes, which are afterward condensed. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To combine or mingle mercury with; to impregnate with mercury; to mercurialize. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A communication of news; an announcement. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ micro + mercurialism. Coined by the chemist A. Stock in 1926. See mercurialism. ] (1926) A form of mercury poisoning resulting from long term exposure to low doses of mercury. The syndrome of micromercurialism involves complex symptoms of stress, fatigue, memory loss, fine tremors, muscular and reflex insufficiency and low blood pressure, caused by accumulation of mercury in the system. A condition of hyperthermia is accompanied by a series of functional changes under the effects of mercury. The combined simultaneous effect of toxic action, temperature and galvanic response infers a cycle of disintegration and change. Work With Mercury (1972) As proposed by Stock, the syndrome was considered as the union of pathological changes in human body caused by means of low concentrations (as low as 0.01 mg per cubic meter) of mercury vapor over long exposure times (up to 10 years). [ PJC ]