silicate

American

[sil-i-kit, -keyt] / ˈsɪl ɪ kɪt, -ˌkeɪt /

noun

Mineralogy. any of the largest group of mineral compounds, as quartz, beryl, garnet, feldspar, mica, and various kinds of clay, consisting of SiO 2 or SiO 4 groupings and one or more metallic ions, with some forms containing hydrogen. Silicates constitute well over 90 percent of the rock-forming minerals of the earth's crust.
Chemistry. any salt derived from the silicic acids or from silica.

silicate British

/ ˈsɪlɪkɪt, -ˌkeɪt /

noun

a salt or ester of silicic acid, esp one of a large number of usually insoluble salts with polymeric negative ions having a structure formed of tetrahedrons of SiO 4 groups linked in rings, chains, sheets, or three dimensional frameworks. Silicates constitute a large proportion of the earth's minerals and are present in cement and glass

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

silicate Scientific

/ sĭl′ĭ-kāt′ /

Any of a large class of chemical compounds composed of silicon, oxygen, and at least one metal. Most rocks and minerals are silicates.
Any mineral containing the group SiO ₄, either isolated, or joined to other groups in chains, sheets, or three-dimensional groups with metal elements. Micas and feldspars are silicate minerals.

Other Word Forms

nonsilicate noun
silication noun
subsilicate noun

Etymology

Origin of silicate

First recorded in 1805–15; silic(a) + -ate ²

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Other samples were combined with water and materials commonly found in Martian sediment, including silicate based rocks and clay.

From Science Daily

Asbestos is a mined fibrous silicate that was widely used in home insulation, automobiles and other applications through the 1970s until its use was slowly phased out as its health impacts became widely known.

From Los Angeles Times

The dust matched familiar types of stardust, including silicates and alumina.

From Science Daily

As the water interacts with rocks, especially silicate rocks such as granite, it gradually breaks them down.

From Science Daily

Bags of gabbro and similar calcium-bearing silicate rocks fill a shed out back and dot the office.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023