silicon5 definitions found silicon - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 : Silicon \Sil"i*con\, n. [See Silica.] (Chem.) 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. [1913 Webster] silicon - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) : silicon n 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 [syn: silicon, Si, atomic number 14 ] silicon - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) : silicon 1. <electronics> The material used as the base (or "substrate") for most integrated circuits. 2. <jargon> Hardware, especially integrated circuits or microprocessor-based computer systems (compare iron). Contrast: software. See also sandbender. [Jargon File] (1996-05-28) silicon - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) : silicon n. Hardware, esp. ICs or microprocessor-based computer systems (compare iron). Contrasted with software. See also sandbender. silicon - Elements (07Nov00) : silicon Symbol: Si Atomic number: 14 Atomic weight: 28.086 Metalloid element belonging to group 14 of the periodic table. It is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, making up 25.7% of it by weight. Chemically less reactive than carbon. First identified by Lavoisier in 1787 and first isolated in 1823 by Berzelius. |