elohopea

elo (“living”) +‎ hopea (“silver”), perhaps a calque of Latin argentum vivum (literally “living silver”). Coined by Finnish folk poetry researcher, translator and journalist Julius Krohn in 1860.

• IPA^(key): /ˈeloˌhopeɑ/, [ˈe̞lo̞ˌho̞pe̞ɑ̝]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -opeɑ
• Syllabification^(key): e‧lo‧ho‧pe‧a

elohopea

1. mercury, quicksilver (Hg)
2. (figuratively) thermometer (in which the level of mercury indicates temperature)

   Elohopea näyttää kahtakymmentä astetta.

   The thermometer reading is twenty degrees.

   (literally, “The mercury indicates twenty degrees.”)

3. (figuratively) lively thing or person, especially a child

• (mercury): alkuaine, metalli

• (mercury): Category:fi:Chemical elements, Category:fi:Metals

• “elohopea”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02