Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
silicate [sil-i-kit, -keyt] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- Mineralogy. any of the largest group of mineral compounds, as quartz, beryl, garnet, feldspar, mica, and various kinds of clay, consisting of SiO2 or SiO4 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.
Origin of silicate First recorded in 1805–15; silic(a) + -ate2 Related formssil·i·ca·tion [sil-i-key-shuh n] /ˌsɪl ɪˈkeɪ ʃən/, nounnon·sil·i·cate, nounsub·sil·i·cate, noun Examples from the Web for silicate Contemporary Examples of silicate
In this case, silicate in the ash melts as it hits the hot turbines of the engine and shuts it down.
Volcanic Ash: The Extraordinary Air Travel Emergency
Clive Irving
April 15, 2010
Historical Examples of silicate
The next layers of the same fiber are moistened with silicate of soda.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885
Various
A silicate base creature could easily have formed a shell of it about itself.
F.E. Hardart
Enamel; silicate and stannate or antimoniate of potash or soda, and lead.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines
Andrew Ure
Silicate of soda is also used to impart similar characteristics.
William Bond Wheelwright
A silicate of aluminum and the rare chemical element beryllium.
William J. Miller
British Dictionary definitions for silicate silicate 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
Word Origin and History for silicate n.
silicate in Medicine silicate [sĭl′ĭ-kāt′, -kĭt] n.
- Any of numerous compounds containing silicon, oxygen, and one or more metals; a salt of silicic acid.
silicate in Science silicate [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 SiO4, either isolated, or joined to other groups in chains, sheets, or three-dimensional groups with metal elements. Micas and feldspars are silicate minerals.