Meanings
plural semiconductors
- natural sciencesA substance with electrical properties intermediate between a good conductor and a good insulator.
Holonyms: chip, microchip, integrated circuit
3 more examples
Integrated circuits are made from semiconductors, especially silicon.
In this sense we are to understand the following table in which bodies are classed as conductors, semiconductors, and nonconductors; those bodies being conveniently designated as conductors which, when applied to an electroscope charged with either kind of electricity discharge it almost instantaneously; semiconductors being those which discharge it in a short but measurable time, a few seconds, for instance; while nonconductors effect no discharge even, in the course of a minute.
1876, Adolphe Ganot, Natural Philosophy for General Readers and Young Persons, page 422The following table of conductors may therefore be used in inverse order as a table of resistances, the good conductors being bodies of slight resistance, the semiconductors being bodies of great resistance, and the insulators being bodies of so great resistance that they almost effectually oppose the passage of any current.
1901, George W. Jacoby, A System of Physiologic Therapeutics: Electrotherapy - abbreviationellipsismetonymicallybusinessEllipsis of semiconductor device.
Near-synonyms: chip, microchip, integrated circuit
3 more examples
The company supplies semiconductors to laptop, server, and smartphone manufacturers.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Wednesday said its revenues increased more sharply in the first quarter of 2024 than in any previous quarter since 2022 following a surge in demand for microchips driven by the artificial-intelligence boom. TSMC, which supplies semiconductors to top companies including Apple and Nvidia, posted a 16.5% increase in its first-quarter sales to NT$592.64 billion ($18.54 billion), in a sign the global chip market has now started recovering from the major slump that hit sales in 2023.
2024 April 10, Louis Goss, “Chip maker TSMC posts sharpest increase in sales since 2022 following AI boom”, in MarketWatch, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2024, retrieved 08 May 2024Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo proudly held up the progress of American industry on semiconductor manufacturing Sunday, declaring the U.S. has “outinnovated” China as the two nations fight to advance their domestic technology manufacturing.
2024 April 21, Nick Robertson, “Gina Raimondo says ‘we’ve outinnovated China’ amid chips war”, in The Hill, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2024Synonyms: chip, microchip, integrated circuit
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEllipsis of semiconductor device.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities
nouna conductor made with semiconducting material
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sem-
- Proto-Indo-European*sēmi
- Latinsēmi-
- Englishsemi-
- Englishconductor
- Englishsemiconductor
Translations
Arabic شِبْه مُوَصِّل
- شِبْه مُوَصِّل (šibh muwaṣṣil)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Basque erdieroale
- erdieroalesubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Bengali অর্ধপরিবাহী
- অর্ধপরিবাহী (ordhopribahi)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Bulgarian полупрово́дник
- полупрово́дник (poluprovódnik)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Catalan semiconductor
- semiconductorsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Chinese Cantonese 半導體 /半导体
- 半導體 /半导体 (bun³ dou⁶ tai²)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Chinese Mandarin 半導體 /半导体
- 半導體 /半导体 (bàndǎotǐ)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Czech polovodič
- polovodičsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Danish halvleder
- halvledersubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Dutch halfgeleider
- halfgeleidersubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Esperanto duonkonduktaĵo, semikonduktaĵo
- duonkonduktaĵosubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
- semikonduktaĵosubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
- duonkonduktantosubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Estonian pooljuht
- pooljuhtsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Finnish puolijohde
- puolijohdesubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
French semiconducteur
- semiconducteursubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
German Halbleiter
- Halbleitersubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Greek ημιαγωγός
- ημιαγωγός (imiagogós)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Hebrew מוֹלִיךְ לְמֶחֱצָה
- מוֹלִיךְ לְמֶחֱצָה (molíkh lemekhetsá)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Hindi अर्धचालक पदार्थ
- अर्धचालक पदार्थ (ardhacālak padārth)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Hungarian félvezető
- félvezetősubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Icelandic hálfleiðari
- hálfleiðarisubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Indonesian semikonduktor
- semikonduktorsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Irish leathsheoltóir
- leathsheoltóirsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Italian semiconduttore
- semiconduttoresubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Japanese 半導体
- 半導体 (handōtai)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Korean 반도체
- 반도체 (bandoche)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Latvian pusvadītājs
- pusvadītājssubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Lithuanian puslaidininkis
- puslaidininkissubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Malay separa pengalir, semikonduktor
- separa pengalirsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
- semikonduktorsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Norwegian Bokmål halvleder
- halvledersubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Polish półprzewodnik
- półprzewodniksubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Portuguese semicondutor
- semicondutorsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Romanian semiconductor
- semiconductorsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Russian полупроводни́к
- полупроводни́к (poluprovodník)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Scottish Gaelic fo-ghiùlanair
- fo-ghiùlanairsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Slovak polovodič
- polovodičsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Spanish semiconductor
- semiconductorsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Swedish halvledare
- halvledaresubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Tagalog malasaluyan, semikonduktor
- malasaluyansubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
- semikonduktorsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Thai สารกึ่งตัวนำ
- สารกึ่งตัวนำ (sǎan-gʉ̀ng-dtuua-nam)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Turkish yarı iletken
- yarı iletkensubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Ukrainian напівпровідни́к
- напівпровідни́к (napivprovidnýk)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Urdu نِیم مُوَصِّل
- نِیم مُوَصِّل (nīm muvassil)substance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Vietnamese chất bán dẫn
- chất bán dẫnsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Welsh lled-ddargludydd
- lled-ddargludyddsubstance with electrical properties between conductor and insulator
Cite this entry
semiconductor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semiconductor
“semiconductor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semiconductor. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semiconductor,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semiconductor.
Source: semiconductor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.