calomel

[ kal-uh-mel, -muhl ]

nounPharmacology.

a white, tasteless powder, Hg2Cl2, used chiefly as a purgative and fungicide.

Origin of calomel

1670–80; <New Latin calomelas coined from Greek kaló(s) fair + mélas black; allegedly so called because its original preparation involved turning black powder into white

Also called mercurous chloride.

Words Nearby calomel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use calomel in a sentence

I took calomel at his hands f'r manny years till he told me that it was about the same thing they put into Rough on Rats.
Mr. Dooley Says | Finley Dunne
It may be mixed with calomel without the latter being decomposed.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley
Thenceforth his life was safe; as long as the few ounces of quinine and calomel lasted, at any rate.
The Terms of Surrender | Louis Tracy
And so his calomel pill and his bloodletting lancet were carried everywhere with him by the doctor.
Criminal Psychology | Hans Gross
calomel is a specific; and is taken by multitudes without hesitation, or fear of danger.
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West | J. M. Peck

British Dictionary definitions for calomel

calomel

/ (ˈkæləˌmɛl, -məl) /

noun

a colourless tasteless powder consisting chiefly of mercurous chloride, used medicinally, esp as a cathartic. Formula: Hg 2 Cl 2

Origin of calomel

C17: perhaps from New Latin calomelas (unattested), literally: beautiful black (perhaps so named because it was originally sublimed from a black mixture of mercury and mercuric chloride), from Greek kalos beautiful + melas black

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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