| 释义 |
Mercurialist|mɜːˈkjʊərɪəlɪst|
[f. mercurial + -ist.]
†1. One under the influence of the planet Mercury. Obs.
1569J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 50 b, She pronounceth..another a Venerean, Mercurialist or Lunist. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. iii. i. iii. (1628) 181 Mercurialists are solitary, much in contemplation, subtile, Poets, Philosophers. 1651Culpepper Astrol. Judgem. Dis. (1658) 96 That's the reason Mercurialists (if Mercury be strong) are so swift in motions, so fluent of speech.
†b. One having the qualities attributed to persons born under Mercury; an eloquent or ingenious person; a trader; occas. in bad sense, a sharper, thief. Obs.
1566Drant Horace, Sat. ii. iii. F vj b, My witte so deepe soe sore to deale, such lucke, to win or saue, That me a Mercurialiste to surname then they gaue. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. ⁋v, I may rather shew my selfe a Mercurialist, then a Martialist. 1589Warner Alb. Eng. Pr. Add. 152 æneas, for personage the Iouilist, for well-spoken the Mercurilist. 1591Greene Farew. Follie (1617) C 2, Hee that..with a deepe insight marketh the nature of our Mercurialistes shall find as fitte a harbour for Pride vnder a Schollers Cappe as vnder a Souldiers Helmet. 1608J. King Serm. 5 Nov. 26 Where the great Mercurialists of the world for wit & deuises..haue a finger in the menaging of al Christian states. 1644Bulwer Chiron. 134 For such Mercurialists who addresse themselves to filch. 1655H. L'Estrange Chas. I 169 A foul blemish it would have been to the Mercurialists, to the Society of Jesus, should they have sate out in a work so proper to their imployment (the incitation of Kingdomes and States to turbulent commotions) as these Scot'sh broyls.
†2. A guide, director. (Cf. Mercury 2.) Obs.
1635Gellibrand Variation Magn. Needle 5 By the Prosthaphaereticall application thereof, the true point of the compasse (which is his principall Mercurialist) may be rectified.
3. A medical man who makes free use of preparations of mercury in the treatment of certain diseases.
During the first half of the 19th c. the authorities on the treatment of syphilis were divided into ‘mercurialists’ and ‘non-mercurialists’.
1835Mem. Sir J. Y. Simpson iii. 48 He appears to be a great mercurialist and promoter of the business of the apothecary. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxix. 367 The rational practitioner is neither a mercurialist nor a non-mercurialist. |