Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—Q

Quicksilver

is argentum vivum (living silver) silver that moves about like a living thing. (Anglo-Saxon, cwicseolfor.)

Swift as quicksilver
It courses through the natural gates
And alleys of the body.

Shakespeare: Hamlet, i. 5.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Quid
Quickset
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