Definition of "Mercury"

Mercury

/ˈmɜː(ɹ)kjʊɹi/

proper noun
1. (astronomy) The planet in the solar system with the closest orbit to the Sun, named after the god; represented by ☿.
2. (Roman mythology) The Roman god associated with speed, sometimes used as a messenger, wearing winged sandals; the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes.
3. (obsolete, alchemy, chemistry) Quicksilver, mercury.
noun
plural Mercuries
1. A carrier of tidings.
  1. A newsboy, a messenger.
  2. A footman.
    Quotations
    Enter Mr. Tulkinghorn, followed by Mercuries with lamps and candles.
    1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853
  3. Someone who carries messages between lovers; a go-between.
    Quotations
    His Mercury having made his observations, reported, that there was no body in the coach but Mrs. Hornbeck and an elderly woman, who had all the air of a duenna, and that the servant was not the same footman who had attended them in France.
    1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […]
  4. A newspaper.
    Quotations
    No allusion to it is to be found in the monthly Mercuries.
    1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 21, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans