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Glite Dictionary
mercurial ointment

mercurial ointment

9.9
An ointment with mercury used long ago to treat skin problems like lice and syphilis
  • noun
  • /mɜrˈkjʊəriəl ˈɔɪntmənt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : ungüento mercurial
  • In the nineteenth century, mercurial ointment was commonly used to treat syphilis.

Examples

  • Due to mercury's toxicity, modern medicine no longer recommends mercurial ointment.

  • The doctor prescribed mercurial ointment for his skin condition, following the traditional treatment.

  • The doctor prescribed a mercurial ointment for her skin condition.

  • Have you ever used mercurial ointment for treatment?

  • In the nineteenth century, mercurial ointment was commonly used to treat syphilis.

  • The doctor prescribed mercurial ointment for his skin condition, following the traditional treatment.

  • Due to mercury's toxicity, modern medicine no longer recommends mercurial ointment.

Synonyms

Mercurochrome
vsmercurial ointment
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A red liquid used to clean small cuts that contains mercury

is meant for treating significant skin infections rather than small cuts
merbromine
vsmercurial ointment
  • Archaic
9.9

A red liquid used on cuts to prevent infection that contains mercury

is applied to treat serious skin diseases and infestations rather than minor wounds

Surface Forms

mercurial ointment singular
mercurial ointments plural

Morphology

mercurial + ointment

The meaning is directly compositional: 'mercurial' (containing mercury) modifies 'ointment' (a topical salve), yielding 'an ointment containing mercury.' This adjective+noun formation follows regular word-formation patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would infer the meaning.

Etymology

Mercurial ointment comes from the metal mercury and the word ointment; in the past people mixed the shiny metal into a greasy medicine and rubbed it on sores or to kill lice. Because mercury is 'poisonous', these treatments often harmed people, so today the term means an ointment that contains mercury and is no longer used.