mercurous
1
9.9
Containing mercury with one positive charge
- adjective
- /ˈmɜrkjərəs/
- Literature
:
mercurioso
- Hat makers and hatters used mercurous nitrate to make felt hats.
- mercurous chloride
- calomel (mercurous)
Examples
-
Hat makers used mercurous nitrate as an important ingredient in the hat-making process.
-
In laboratory experiments, mercurous compounds were analyzed for their chemical properties.
-
The research focused on mercurous substances to understand their effects on the environment.
Compounds
mercurous chloride
- Archaic
1
9.4
A white poisonous powder made from mercury once used as a medicine to make people empty their bowels
Surface Forms
mercurous positive
Morphology
Etymology
Mercurous comes from mercury, the metal named after the Roman god and the fast planet, and the ending -ous, which older chemistry used to mean 'containing' or a 'lower' form of the metal. So, mercurous means a compound 'containing mercury' in that lower chemical form.