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silicon

/ˈsɪlɪkən/noun3 syllables

Silicon means: 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.

Synonyms for silicon4

noun, as in 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

Si, atomic number 14

also used for silicon

silicium, silicum

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What does silicon mean?1

noun

1

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

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Silicon in a sentence

  • Until doping, silicon is useless for creating integrated circuits.DylanTonic
  • On another planet, there could be silicon-based life instead of carbon.araneo
  • On another planet, there could be life based on silicon and not carbon.araneo
  • In a popular show, the Horta is a silicon-based lifeform.nonong
  • Powders of aluminium, magnesium, silicon, etc. explode.fcbond
  • A metalloid is an element with properties intermediate between those of metals and nonmetals (e.g., silicon).LinaTamazight
  • Silicon Roundabout is home to a large number of IT start-ups.unknown
  • Silicon parts are made for toys.memries

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of silicon

as a noun

plural
silicons