calomel

calomel
/kal"euh mel', -meuhl/, n. Pharm.
a white, tasteless powder, Hg2Cl2, used chiefly as a purgative and fungicide. Also called mercurous chloride.
[1670-80; < NL calomelas coined from Gk kaló(s) fair + mélas black; allegedly so called because its original preparation involved turning black powder into white]

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also called  mercurous chloride , or  mercury (i) chloride (Hg2Cl2) 

      a very heavy, soft, white, sweetish-tasting halide mineral, formed by the alteration of other mercury minerals, such as cinnabar or amalgams. Calomel is found together with native mercury, cinnabar, calcite, limonite, and clay, at Moschellandsberg, Ger.; Zimapán, Mexico; and Brewster county, Texas, U.S. For detailed physical properties, see halide mineral (table).

      Once the most popular of cathartics, calomel has been used in medicine since the 16th century. The recognition of its potential toxicity (because of disassociation into mercury and mercuric chloride), together with the development of superior and safer cathartics, led to a decline in its use in internal medicine. It has found application in certain insecticides and fungicides, however.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Calomel — Modèles 2D et 3D Général …   Wikipédia en Français

  • calomel — [ kalɔmɛl ] n. m. • 1752; du gr. kalos « beau » et melas « noir », p. ê. à cause de la couleur de la substance qui servit à l obtenir ♦ Chlorure mercureux (HgCl), poudre blanche sans saveur, autrefois utilisée comme purgatif et antiseptique… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • calomel — CALOMÉL s.n. Clorură de mercur sub forma unei pulberi albe, fine, insolubile în apă, fără gust, fără miros, având acţiune purgativă şi vermifugă; clorură mercuroasă. – Din fr. calomel. Trimis de valeriu, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  CALOMÉL s.… …   Dicționar Român

  • calomel — m. Calomelanos. * * * calomel. m. calomelanos. * * * altcalomel o calomelanos/alt [Hg2Cl2] ► masculino sustantivo y plural respectivamente MINERALOGÍA Dicloruro de dimercurio …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • calomel — old name for mercurous chloride, 1670s, from Fr. calomel, supposedly (Littré) from Gk. kalos fair + melas black; but as the powder is yellowish white this seems difficult. It is perhaps of significance that the salt is blackened by ammonia and… …   Etymology dictionary

  • calomel — [kal′ə mel΄, kal′əməl] n. [ModL calomel, calomeles < Gr kalos, beautiful + melas, black: see MELANO ] mercurous chloride, HgCl, a white, tasteless powder that darkens on exposure to light: used in standard electrode cells and as a fungicide,… …   English World dictionary

  • Calomel — Cal o*mel (k[a^]l [ o]*m[e^]l), n. [Gr. kalo s beautiful + me las black. So called from its being white, though made from a black mixture of mercury and corrosive sublimate. Cf. F. calom[ e]las.] (Chem.) Mild chloride of mercury, {Hg2Cl2}, a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Calomel — Calomel, s. Kalomel …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Calomel — Calomel, s. Quecksilberchloride …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • calomel — et calomélas (ka lo mèl et ka lomé las ) s. m. Terme de chimie. Ancien nom du protochlorure de mercure. ÉTYMOLOGIE    En grec, beau et noir : ainsi nommé, dit on, parce que le chimiste qui le découvrit, vit, dans la préparation, se changer une… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • calomel — s. m. [Química] O mesmo que calomelanos …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

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