Etymology

silicon

S1I1L1I1C3O1N1

Today it means: A nonmetallic element (symbol Si) with an atomic number of 14 and atomic weight of 28.0855. Full definition →

English carbonbf. ← French carbone ← Latin carbōnem
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

silicon · noun1

  1. Latinsilex
  2. New Latinsilicium
  3. Englishsilicium
  4. Proto-Indo-European*kerh₃-der.?
  5. Latincarbōnem
  6. Frenchcarbone
  7. Englishcarbonbf.
  8. English todaysilicon

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.

silicon · noun2

From the silicon chips used in computers.

Words from the same roots

Latinsilex all →

silicasilexsilicicin silicosilicium

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.