mercurial

Name: mercurial, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

//məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“mercurial” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #36,247. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#36,247
frequency rank, English: 36,575
“M” headwords: 13
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua).

Key facts for mercurial
Property	Value
Headword	mercurial
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/
Letters	9
Frequency rank	#36,247
Misspellings tracked	13
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mercurial” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). mercurial lands here:

#36,247

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around mercurial (IPA /məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #36,247 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for mercurial, with forms such as "emrcurial", "mecrurial", and "merccurial". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial (“a plant, probably the goosefoot (Chenopodium); (possibly) dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis)”), from Anglo-Norman mercurial, Old French mercurial, or directly from their… The correct English form is mercurial, spelled M-E-R-C-U-R-I-A-L.

Definition

1
Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua).
2
A person born under the influence of the planet Mercury; hence, a person having an eloquent, quickwitted, furtive, or volatile character.
3
A chemical compound containing mercury.
4
A preparation of mercury, especially as a treatment for syphilis.

Etymology

Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial (“a plant, probably the goosefoot (Chenopodium); (possibly) dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis)”), from Anglo-Norman mercurial, Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon Latin mercuriālis (“a plant, probably annual mercury (Mercurialis annua)”), short for herba mercuriālis (“(probably) annual mercury”, literally “herb or plant of the god Mercury”). Mercuriālis (“pertaining to the Roman god Mercury”, adjective) is derived from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuriālis (adjective), whence Middle English mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

emrcurial
mecrurial
merccurial
mercruial
mercuiral
mercurail
mercuriall
mercurila
mercurrial
merrcurial
merucrial
mmercurial
mrecurial

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mercurial - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "mercurial"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mercurial"?

"mercurial" is spelled M-E-R-C-U-R-I-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/.

What does "mercurial" mean?

As a noun, "mercurial" means: Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua).

What are common misspellings of "mercurial"?

Common misspellings include "emrcurial", "mecrurial", "merccurial", "mercruial", "mercuiral". The correct spelling is "mercurial".

How do you pronounce "mercurial"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mercurial" is /məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "mercurial"?

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “mercurial”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is M-E-R-C-U-R-I-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.