Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Roman Mythology A god that served as messenger to the other gods and was himself the god of commerce, travel, and thievery.
  • noun The smallest of the planets and the one nearest the sun, having a sidereal period of revolution about the sun of 87.97 days at a mean distance of 57.91 million kilometers (35.98 million miles) and a mean radius of approximately 2,440 kilometers (1,516 miles).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Roman mythology The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger. He wore winged sandals. Mercury corresponded to the Greek god Hermes.
  • proper noun astronomy The planet in the solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by .

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English Mercurie, from Old French, from Latin Mercurius.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin Mercurius.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Mercury.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.