silicon

silicon

See also: Silicon and silicón

English

Chemical element
Si
Previous: aluminium (Al)
Next: phosphorus (P)

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĭl'ĭkən, IPA^(key): /ˈsɪlɪkən/; enPR: sĭl'ĭkŏn, IPA^(key): /ˈsɪləkɑn/

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Etymology 1

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.

Noun

silicon (usually uncountable, plural silicons)

1. (chemistry, uncountable) A nonmetallic element (symbol Si) with an atomic number of 14 and atomic weight of 28.0855.
   • 1970, James W[alter] Mayer; Lennart Eriksson; John A[rthur] Davies, “General Features of Ion Implantation”, in Ion Implantation in Semiconductors: Silicon and Germanium, New York, N.Y.: Academic Press, OCLC 912401876, page 5:

     The isolated disordered regions and the amorphous layer have widely different anneal behavior. In the case of germanium and silicon, the isolated disordered regions anneal at moderate temperatures of approximately 200° and 300° C, respectively. The amorphous layers also anneal in a characteristic fashion, but at appreciably higher temperatures, i.e., at approximately 600° C in silicon and 400° C in germanium.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) silicium, (obsolete) silicum

2. (chemistry, countable) A single atom of this element.

Usage notes

Do not confuse silicon with silicone.

Derived terms

• Cwm Silicon
• ekasilicon
• ferrosilicon
• float-zone silicon
• lithium-drifted silicon detector
• polysilicon
• silico-
• silicon-28
• silicon-29
• silicon-30
• silicon alkoxide
• Silicon Alley
• silicon-based
• silicon carbide
• silicon chip
• silicon controlled rectifier
• silicon dioxide
• silicon ester
• Silicon Fen
• Silicon Forest
• silicon germanide
• silicon germanium
• Silicon Glen
• Silicon Hills
• silicon hydride
• silicon iron
• siliconise, siliconize
• silicon oxide
• silicon photonics
• Silicon Prairie
• Silicon Sentier
• silicon steel
• silicon tetrachloride
• silicon tetrafluoride
• Silicon Valley
• Silicon Wadi
• silicon wafer
• strained silicon

 

Related terms

• silane
• silex
• silica
• silicate
• silice
• siliceous, silicious
• silici-
• silicic
• siliciferous
• silicified
• silicify
• silicisation, silicization
• silico-
• silicone
• silicosis
• silicotic

 

Translations

non-metallic element

Afrikaans: silikon (af) Albanian: silicium ? Arabic: سِلِيكُون‎ m (silikōn) Armenian: սիլիցիում (hy) (silicʿium) Asturian: siliciu (ast) m Basque: silizioa Belarusian: крэ́мній m (krémnij) Breton: silisiom m, silikiom m Bulgarian: сили́ций m (silícij) Catalan: silici (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 硅 (zh) (guī) (Mainland), 矽 (zh) (xī) (Taiwan, Hong Kong) Cornish: silikon m Corsican: siliciu m Czech: křemík (cs) m Danish: silicium (da) n Dutch: silicium (nl) n Esperanto: silicio (eo) Estonian: räni (et) Faroese: silisium n Finnish: pii (fi) French: silicium (fr) m Friulian: silici ? Galician: silicio (gl) m Georgian: სილიციუმი (siliciumi) German: Silizium (de) n, Silicium (de) n (professional jargon) Central Franconian: Silizium Greek: πυρίτιο (el) n (pyrítio) Gujarati: સિલિકોન ? (silikon), સૈકતા f (saiktā) Haitian Creole: silisyòm Hawaiian: silikone Hebrew: צורן‎ (he) m (tsoran) Hindi: सैकता ? (saiktā) Hungarian: szilícium (hu) Icelandic: kísill (is) m Ido: siliko (io) Indonesian: silikon (id), zat pasir (id) Interlingua: silicium Irish: sileacan (ga) m Italian: silicio (it) m Japanese: ケイ素 (ja) (keiso), 珪素 (ja) (keiso), シリコン (ja) (shirikon) Kannada: ಸಿಲಿಕಾನ್ (silikān) Kashubian: krzém Kazakh: кремний (kk) (kremnii) Khmer: ស៊ីលីស្យូម (siiliisyoum) Korean: 규소(硅素) (ko) (gyuso), 규소(珪素) (ko) (gyuso), 실리콘 (sillikon) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: sîlîsyûm Kyrgyz: кремний (kremniy) Lao: ຊິລິຄອນ (si li khǭn) Latin: silicium (la) n Latvian: silīcijs ? Lingala: siliki class 9a/10a Lithuanian: silicis (lt) ? Low German: silizium ? Luxembourgish: Silizium ? Macedonian: силициум m (silicium) Malay: silikon (ms) Malayalam: സിലിക്കൺ (silikkaṇ) Maltese: silikon Manx: silicoin m Maori: takawai Marathi: सिलिकॉन ? (silikŏn) Mongolian: цахиур (mn) (caxiur) Nahuatl: tecpatli Norwegian: Bokmål: silisium (no) n Nynorsk: silisium (nn) n Occitan: silici (oc) m Persian: سیلیسیم‎ (silisyom) Polish: krzem (pl) m Portuguese: silício (pt) m Punjabi: ਸਿਲੀਕੋਨ ? (silīkon) Quechua: ullayayaq Romanian: siliciu (ro) n Russian: кре́мний (ru) m (krémnij), сили́ций (ru) m (silícij) Santali: ᱥᱤᱞᱤᱠᱟᱱ (silikan) Scottish Gaelic: sileacon m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: силицијум m, сѝлӣцӣј m Roman: silicijum m, sìlīcīj (sh) m Sicilian: siliciu (scn) ? Slovak: kremík (sk) m Slovene: silicij (sl) m Spanish: silicio (es) m Swedish: kisel (sv) n Tagalog: silisyo Tajik: силитсий (silitsiy) Tamil: சிலிக்கான் (ta) (cilikkāṉ) Telugu: సిలికాన్ (te) (silikān) Thai: ซิลิคอน (th) (sí-lí-kɔ̂n) Turkish: silisyum (tr) Ukrainian: кре́мній m (krémnij) Uzbek: kremniy (uz) Vietnamese: silic (vi) Welsh: silicon (cy) m West Frisian: silisium ? Yiddish: סיליציום‎ m (silitsyum), סיליקאָן‎ m (silikon)

See also

• agate
• amethyst
• asbestos
• clay
• feldspar
• flint
• glass
• granite
• hornblende
• jasper
• mica
• opal
• quartz
• rock crystal
• sand

Etymology 2

From the silicon chips used in computers.

Noun

silicon (uncountable)

1. (slang) computing
2. (slang) computer processor
3. Abbreviation of silicon chip.

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2023), “Silicon”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “silicon”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2023.

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French silicone.

Noun

silicon m (plural siliconi)

1. (chemistry) silicone

Declension

Declension of silicon

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) silicon	siliconul	(niște) siliconi	siliconii
genitive/dative	(unui) silicon	siliconului	(unor) siliconi	siliconilor
vocative	siliconule		siliconilor

Noun

silicon n (plural silicoane)

1. (informal, chiefly in the plural) breast implant

Declension

Declension of silicon

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) silicon	siliconul	(niște) silicoane	silicoanele
genitive/dative	(unui) silicon	siliconului	(unor) silicoane	silicoanelor
vocative	siliconule		silicoanelor

Related terms

• siliciu

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Welsh

Chemical element
Si
Previous: alwminiwm (Al)
Next: ffosfforws (P)

Etymology

Borrowed from English silicon, a modification of silicium, from Latin silex (“flint, silica”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪlɪˌkɔn/
• Rhymes: -ɪlɪkɔn

Noun

silicon m (uncountable, not mutable)

1. silicon

   Synonym: callestrai

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “silicon”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies