Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun silicon

1 sense of silicon

Sense 1
silicon, Si, atomic number 14 -- (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)
       => chemical element, element -- (any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter)
       => semiconductor, semiconducting material -- (a 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)