calomel

From French calomel.

calomel (countable and uncountable, plural calomels)

1. (inorganic chemistry) Mercurous chloride Hg₂Cl₂, formerly used as a laxative and disinfectant and to treat syphilis.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 190:

     What a pity there is not some mental calomel! for Mr. Lushington's equanimity was in a bilious fever with Edward Lorraine's appearance of luxurious enjoyment.

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

     “Where am I?” said the little spectre, in a pathetic voice. “And why was I born in the Calomel days, and why did I have all that Calomel given me?”

   • 1919, Laura Fletcher Hodges, Early Indianapolis, page 23:

     He is remembered for his free use of calomel and the lancet. Mrs. Jane Merrill Ketcham, one of his patients in her childhood, says “it is no exaggeration to say that his pills were as large as cherries; twenty grains of calomel was a common dose and antimony until one was sure he was poisoned.”

• calomel electrode

• David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Calomel”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “calomel”, in Mindat.org‎^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2025.

• Comella

From calomélas, a compound of Ancient Greek καλός (kalós, “beautiful”) and μέλας (mélas, “black”), likely due to its reaction with ammonia, which produces elemental mercury and yields a dark color.

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calomel m (usually uncountable, plural calomels)

1. (inorganic chemistry) calomel

• “calomel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from French calomel.

calomel n (uncountable)

1. calomel