microchip

Etymology

It is formed from English micro- + chip,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} with chip in its electronics sense, a tiny thin square of semiconducting material, recorded from 1962.^[4][2] The rare sense "a very small chip in a surface" was formed separately from the same parts, with chip in its older sense of a small piece broken off.^[2] The verb is a conversion of the noun.^[2] micro- is from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”),^[4] and chip is from Old English cipp.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An integrated circuit, or the small wafer of semiconductor on which one is made: 1969, in an advertisement in Science of 11 July.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Merriam-Webster and the OED date the word to 1969,^[3][2] Dictionary.com to 1965–70,^[6] and Etymonline to 1975.^[4] Collins defines it as a small piece of semiconductor carrying many integrated circuits.^[7] In 1970 the word was also used, rarely, of a very small chip in a surface.^[2] From 1988 it became a verb, to implant a microchip in an animal so that it can be identified, often in the passive; the adjective microchipped is recorded earlier.^[2]

Timeline

• 1969 – an integrated circuit, or the wafer of semiconductor that carries it.^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to 1975.^[4]
• 1970 – a very small chip in a surface (rare).^[2]
• 1988 – verb, to implant a microchip in an animal for identification.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small piece of semiconductor material carrying an integrated circuit or many of them; a chip.^[7][3][2][5]
2. (rare) A very small chip in a surface.^[2]

Verb

1. To implant a microchip in an animal, so that it can be identified from a central record: The shelter microchips every puppy before adoption.^[7][2]

Related words

• chip
• micro-
• microprocessor

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins