silicon
pronunciation
How to pronounce silicon in British English:
UK [ˈsɪlɪkən]
How to pronounce silicon in American English:
US [ˈsɪlɪkən]
-
- Noun:
- 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
Word Origin
- silicon
- silicon: [19] Silicon was coined in 1817 by the British chemist Thomas Thomson. Like the slightly earlier silica, it was based on Latin silex ‘flint’. From the same source comes silicone, which dates from the 1860s.
- silicon (n.)
- nonmetallic element, 1817, coined by British chemist Thomas Thomson from silica (silicon dioxide), from which it was isolated. The name is patterned on carbon, etc. Silicon chip first attested 1965; Silicon Valley for the Santa Clara Valley south of San Francisco, U.S., first attested 1974, from the concentration of manufacturers of silicon chips used in computers, watches, etc.
Example
- 1. This makes dye-based cells more flexible than silicon ones .
- 2. They may not even be made of silicon .
- 3. Silicon is a natural candidate for such measurements .
- 4. It absorbs light energy more efficiently than silicon .
- 5. It 's another manufactured marvel of silicon and plastic .