quicksilver
quick·sil·ver
adjective
liable to sudden unpredictable change
- “erratic behavior”
- “fickle weather”
- “mercurial twists of temperament”
- “a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next”
noun
Origin
From Middle English quyk silver, quyksilver, quikselver, from Old English cwicseolfor (“quicksilver”, literally “living silver”) (see Latin argentum vīvum) 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.
Phrases
- quicksilver horizon
- quicksilver plaster
- quicksilver soap
- quicksilver water
- quicksilver weed
Related words
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.