silicate

Etymology

It is formed from English silica + -ate,^[2][3][4][5] with the suffix used in chemistry.^[6] The base was coined in 1801 on the model of alumina and soda, from Latin silex (“flint, pebble”).^[3] The OED compares French silicate.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A compound regarded as formed from silica and another substance: 1811, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.^[2][3][4] Dictionary.com gives the range 1805–15.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The OED defines it broadly, as any salt, ester or anion of a silicic acid, including very many minerals and rocks regarded as formed from silica and other substances.^[2] Modern dictionaries describe these by their structure, built on units of silicon and oxygen linked in rings, chains, sheets or frameworks.^[8][5] Silicates are the largest chemical group of minerals and, with quartz, make up most of the earth's crust, as well as materials such as cement and glass.^[4][9][8] The verb, to combine or coat with silica, is recorded by Merriam-Webster's Unabridged and Chambers.^[4][10]

Timeline

• 1811 – a salt of a silicic acid, or a compound of silica with another substance.^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A salt or ester of a silicic acid.^[8][4][2]
2. Any of a very large group of minerals and rocks made up of silicon and oxygen with one or more metals, forming most of the earth's crust: Granite consists largely of silicates.^[9][4][10]

Verb

1. To combine with silica or a silicate, or to coat or impregnate with it.^[4][10]

Word family

• borosilicate
• fluosilicate
• inosilicate
• nonsilicate
• orthosilicate
• silication

Related words

• silica
• silicon
• silicone

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
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. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers