mercurous chloride
- noun
- /ˈmɜrkjərəs ˈklɔɪrɪd/
- Archaic
:
cloruro mercuroso
- The chemist identified the white substance as mercurous chloride by its reactions.
- mercurous chloride (calomel)
Examples
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Due to toxicity concerns, doctors no longer use mercurous chloride in modern medicine.
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The doctor prescribed mercurous chloride for its laxative properties.
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Until the twentieth century, mercurous chloride was commonly prescribed as a purgative.
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Many people are unaware of the dangers of mercurous chloride.
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In the past, many doctors prescribed calomel, or mercurous chloride, for its strong purgative effects.
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Calomel, known as mercurous chloride, was commonly used in medicine to induce vomiting and relieve constipation.
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Before safer alternatives were discovered, mercurous chloride was frequently used as a powerful laxative in the 19th century.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A white, tasteless powder containing mercury used in the past as medicine
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term 'mercurous chloride' is compositionally built from 'mercurous' (mercury in the +1 state) and 'chloride' (a chlorine-containing anion), so its meaning as the chloride salt of mercurous mercury is directly derivable from the constituents. Although it's a technical chemical term, the naming pattern is systematic and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings could infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Mercurous chloride gets its name from its parts: mercurous (from mercury) and chloride (from chlorine), and it was better known as 'calomel', a white powder once given as a strong medicine to make people go to the toilet. That's why it was used as a 'purgative', though today we avoid it because it is 'toxic'.