silicon

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)A nonmetallic element (symbol Si) with an atomic number of 14 and atomic weight of 28.0855.

   “The isolated disordered regions and the amorphous layer have widely different anneal behavior. In the case of germanium and silicon, the isolated disordered regions anneal at moderate temperatures of approximately 200° and 300° C, respectively. The amorphous layers also anneal in a characteristic fashion, but at appreciably higher temperatures, i.e., at approximately 600° C in silicon and 400° C in germanium.”

   “His idea is to stand billions of ultrafine wire loops around the edge of a silicon chip — hence the name racetrack — and use electric current to slide infinitesimally small magnets up and down along each of the wires to be read and written as digital ones and zeros.”

2. (countable, usually)A single atom of this element.
3. (slang, uncountable)Computing.
4. (slang, uncountable)A computer processor.
5. (abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable)Abbreviation of silicon chip.