What does silicon mean?

Definitions for silicon
ˈsɪl ɪ kən, -ˌkɒnsil·i·con

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word silicon.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. silicon, Si, atomic number 14noun

    a tetravalent nonmetallic element; next to oxygen it is the most abundant element in the earth's crust; occurs in clay and feldspar and granite and quartz and sand; used as a semiconductor in transistors

Wiktionary

  1. siliconnoun

    A nonmetallic element (symbol Si) with an atomic number of 14 and atomic weight of 28.0855.

  2. Etymology: From the stem of silex ‘silica’.

Wikipedia

  1. Silicon

    Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic table: carbon is above it; and germanium, tin, lead, and flerovium are below it. It is relatively unreactive. Because of its high chemical affinity for oxygen, it was not until 1823 that Jöns Jakob Berzelius was first able to prepare it and characterize it in pure form. Its oxides form a family of anions known as silicates. Its melting and boiling points of 1414 °C and 3265 °C, respectively, are the second highest among all the metalloids and nonmetals, being surpassed only by boron. Silicon is the eighth most common element in the universe by mass, but very rarely occurs as the pure element in the Earth's crust. It is widely distributed in space in cosmic dusts, planetoids, and planets as various forms of silicon dioxide (silica) or silicates. More than 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust (about 28% by mass), after oxygen. Most silicon is used commercially without being separated, often with very little processing of the natural minerals. Such use includes industrial construction with clays, silica sand, and stone. Silicates are used in Portland cement for mortar and stucco, and mixed with silica sand and gravel to make concrete for walkways, foundations, and roads. They are also used in whiteware ceramics such as porcelain, and in traditional silicate-based soda-lime glass and many other specialty glasses. Silicon compounds such as silicon carbide are used as abrasives and components of high-strength ceramics. Silicon is the basis of the widely used synthetic polymers called silicones. The late 20th century to early 21st century has been described as the Silicon Age (also known as the Digital Age or Information Age) because of the large impact that elemental silicon has on the modern world economy. The small portion of very highly purified elemental silicon used in semiconductor electronics (<10%) is essential to the transistors and integrated circuit chips used in most modern technology such as smartphones and other computers. In 2019, 32.4% of the semiconductor market segment was for networks and communications devices, and the semiconductors industry is projected to reach $726.73 billion by 2027. Silicon is an essential element in biology. Only traces are required by most animals, but some sea sponges and microorganisms, such as diatoms and radiolaria, secrete skeletal structures made of silica. Silica is deposited in many plant tissues.

ChatGPT

  1. silicon

    Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic table: carbon is above it, and germanium, tin and lead are below it. It is widely distributed in dusts, sands, and planetoids as various forms of silicon dioxide or silicates. Silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, after oxygen. It is commonly used in semiconductors, fiber optic cables, and ceramics.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Siliconnoun

    a nonmetalic element analogous to carbon. It always occurs combined in nature, and is artificially obtained in the free state, usually as a dark brown amorphous powder, or as a dark crystalline substance with a meetallic luster. Its oxide is silica, or common quartz, and in this form, or as silicates, it is, next to oxygen, the most abundant element of the earth's crust. Silicon is characteristically the element of the mineral kingdom, as carbon is of the organic world. Symbol Si. Atomic weight 28. Called also silicium

  2. Etymology: [See Silica.]

Wikidata

  1. Silicon

    Silicon, a tetravalent metalloid, is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table. Controversy about silicon's character dates to its discovery; it was first prepared and characterized in pure form in 1823. In 1808, it was given the name silicium, with an -ium word-ending to suggest a metal, a name which the element retains in several non-English languages. However, its final English name, first suggested in 1817, reflects the more physically similar elements carbon and boron. Silicon is the eighth most common element in the universe by mass, but very rarely occurs as the pure free element in nature. It is most widely distributed in dusts, sands, planetoids, and planets as various forms of silicon dioxide or silicates. Over 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust after oxygen. Most silicon is used commercially without being separated, and indeed often with little processing of compounds from nature. These include direct industrial building-use of clays, silica sand and stone. Silica is used in ceramic brick. Silicate goes into Portland cement for mortar and stucco, and when combined with silica sand and gravel, to make concrete. Silicates are also in whiteware ceramics such as porcelain, and in traditional quartz-based soda-lime glass. More modern silicon compounds such as silicon carbide form abrasives and high-strength ceramics. Silicon is the basis of the ubiquitous synthetic silicon-based polymers called silicones.

The New Hacker's Dictionary

  1. silicon

    Hardware, esp. ICs or microprocessor-based computer systems (compare iron). Contrasted with software. See also sandbender.

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Silicon

    A trace element that constitutes about 27.6% of the earth's crust in the form of SILICON DIOXIDE. It does not occur free in nature. Silicon has the atomic symbol Si, atomic number 14, and atomic weight 28.09.

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  1. silicon

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of silicon in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of silicon in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of silicon in a Sentence

  1. Raj Jayadev:

    The difference with Silicon Valley is we're the one region in the country that could actually eliminate child poverty -- because of the amount of accumulated wealth, if we don't take that opportunity, you sorta wonder what the larger point of Silicon Valley is.

  2. Shenzhen Cyril Ebersweiler:

    Entrepreneurs need to be in the right ecosystems at the right time, for fundraising, you go to Silicon Valley. For hardware and manufacturing, you come to Shenzhen.

  3. Luni Libes:

    There are fewer investors and they can be harder to find, there is no equivalent of Silicon Valley for social good startups, there's no one place where people are flooding to to start these types of ventures.

  4. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe:

    Japan will change. Let's create a country where innovation is constantly happening, giving birth to new industries to lead the world, when I visit Silicon Valley I want to think about how we can take Silicon Valley's ways and make them work in Japan.

  5. Innovation Gabriel Woo:

    We're certainly looking beyond Canada and even beyond North America, there is always really interesting stuff that's happening out in the (San Francisco) Bay Area, in Silicon Valley.

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Translations for silicon

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"silicon." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/silicon>.

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