silicon
/ˈsɪlɪkən/ noun
Forms silicons
- noun (chemistry, uncountable) A nonmetallic element (symbol Si) with an atomic number of 14 and atomic weight of 28.0855.
- noun (chemistry, countable) A single atom of this element.
- noun (slang) Computing.
- noun (slang) A computer processor.
Synonyms
Etymology
Coined by Scottish chemist Thomas Thomson as a modification of the earlier name silicium, from the stem of Latin silex (“flint, silica”) + -on from carbon.
From the silicon chips used in computers.
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
Etymology [See Silica.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “silicon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details