Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mercurial

/mɝˈkjʊ.ɹi.əl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.82 in modern English

Syllables
mer-cu-ri-al
IPA
/mɝˈkjʊ.ɹi.əl/
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

Obsolete

adj

Pertaining to the planet Mercury.

Example Sentences

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”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: mercurial, mercuriālis

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /mɝˈkjʊ.ɹi.əl/
  • British English: /məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

mercurials (plural) mercuriall (alternative) more mercurial (comparative) most mercurial (superlative)

Derived Forms

Phrases

mercurial eczema mercurial finger mercurial glossitis mercurial ointment mercurial phosphorus mercurial pneumatic trough mercurial rash mercurial trough

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce mercurial?
The recorded pronunciation is /mɝˈkjʊ.ɹi.əl/.
What does mercurial mean?
Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua).
Where does mercurial come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce mercurial

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mercurial”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/mɝˈkjʊ.ɹi.əl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “mercurial”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “mercurial” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.