formica · noun1
Genericized trademark from Formica; by surface analysis, for + mica. Compare formic and mire (“ant”, obsolete).
Formica · proper noun2
Coined in 1913 as a brand name for the material and the company producing it. Formica was originally intended as a replacement “for mica”, which was then commonly used for electrical insulation. Likely a play on words with either formic or the genus name Formica (wood ants), from Latin formīca (“ant”), these ants being the original source of formic acid, after which formaldehyde, an ingredient in the resin, was also named.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.