mercuric sulfide

or mercury sulfide


nounChemistry.
  1. a crystalline, water-insoluble, poisonous compound, HgS, occurring as a coarse, black powder (black mercuric sulfide ) or as a fine, bright-scarlet powder (red mercuric sulfide ): used chiefly as a pigment and as a source of the free metal.

Origin of mercuric sulfide

1
First recorded in 1850–55

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024