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Glite Dictionary
dog mercury

dog mercury

9.9
A common plant with greenish flowers that grows in shady woods
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : mercurio de perro
  • We found a patch of dog mercury growing beneath the trees in the old forest.

Examples

  • The greenish flowers of dog mercury are inconspicuous but easy to identify for botanists.

  • Gardeners often consider dog mercury a nuisance because it spreads quickly in shaded areas.

  • The dog mercury blooms in early spring.

  • Have you seen the dog mercuries in the forest?

  • Gardeners often consider dog mercury a nuisance because it spreads quickly in shaded areas.

  • We found a patch of dog mercury growing beneath the trees in the old forest.

  • The greenish flowers of dog mercury are inconspicuous but easy to identify for botanists.

Synonyms

dog's mercury
vsdog mercury
  • UK
9.9

A common woodland plant with paired leaves and small green flowers that is poisonous

is the nonpossessive spelling used as an alternate written form
Mercurialis perennis
vsdog mercury
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with small green flowers commonly called dog's mercury that is poisonous

is the common name used in general everyday descriptions

Surface Forms

dog mercury singular
dog mercuries plural

Morphology

dog + mercury

The compound refers to a specific botanical species and this meaning is not derivable from the ordinary meanings of 'dog' (the animal) and 'mercury' (the metal). 'Dog' here functions as a lexicalized prefix in plant names and 'mercury' is from the plant genus name, a historical naming convention that a B1 learner who only knows the literal constituents would not predict.

Etymology

Dog mercury may come from an old use of dog to mean 'not the real' or 'common', so people called this plain, weedy plant a 'dog' version of mercury. That's why the name now means a common woodland plant with greenish flowers.