mercuriallyadv.
/məːˈkjʊərɪəli/, U.S. /mərˈkjʊriəli/ 1. In a mercurial or lively manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > spiritedness or liveliness > [adverb] > in a mercurial manner
mercurially1652
1652 T. Urquhart Εκσκυβαλαυρον 106 He [sc. Crichtoun]..would keep in that miscelany discourse of his..such a climacterical and mercurially digested method, that [etc.].
a1704 T. Brown Wks. (1715) IV. 335 If he is mercurially inclin'd; Of wit sagacious, and heroic Mind, He'd best pursue those honourable Courses Of picking Pockets, and of taking Purses.
1871 Addr. Inauguration Prof. N. Porter (Yale Univ.) 28 We are indeed mercurially susceptible to ideas both true and false.
1904 Amer. Hist. Rev. 9 358 Though she rose and fell mercurially to every change of temperature in her environment, she had, in spite of her fluidity, a curious gravity and firmness.
1963 Times 23 Apr. 16/1 In place of Ionesco's hero—perpetually exhausted, always eating, schizophrenically incapable of action—we have the mercurially agile M. Serreau.
1990 Opera Now May 74/4 Saul and David..is actually a highly theatrical drama, mercurially paced and strongly characterized.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [adverb] > by means of named chemical reactions or processes > by means of miscellaneous other processes
greedily1584
spontaneously1771
mercurially1881
reductively1931
1881 W. de W. Abney Photogr. 36 The metal plate is by contrast dark when compared with the mercurially-developed image.
1893 Westm. Gaz. 23 June 4/2 Fitted into holders of solid silver, mercurially gilt.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1652