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Definition of quicksilver


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quick·sil·ver  audio  (kwkslvr) KEY  

NOUN:
See mercury.
ADJECTIVE:
Unpredictable; mercurial: "a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next" (Sven Birkerts).

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English cwicseolfor, living silver (translation of Latin argentum vvum) : cwic, cwicu, alive; see gwei- in Indo-European roots + seolfor, silver ; see silver


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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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