(n.) 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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). silicon. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/silicon/definitions/2062042 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "silicon" http://smartdefine.org/silicon/definitions/2062042 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, silicon, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/silicon/definitions/2062042>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "silicon" 28 May 2011. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/silicon/definitions/2062042> |