quicksilver
Noun
- a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures
- The metal mercury.
- An amalgam of mercury and tin applied to the backs of mirrors, quicksilvering.
Adjective Satellite
- liable to sudden unpredictable change
- "a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next"
Adj
- Unpredictable, erratic or fickle; mercurial.
Verb
- To overlay with quicksilver.
- To treat with quicksilver.
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
atomic number 80, erratic, fickle, Hg, hydrargyrum, mercurial, mercury
Scrabble Score: 29
quicksilver is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordquicksilver is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
quicksilver is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary