ケイ素そ

け

い

そ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

silicon (Si)

The chemical element silicon. Used in scientific and technical contexts.

ケイ素そは半はん導どう体たいの材ざい料りょうとして広ひろく使つかわれている。
Silicon is widely used as a material for semiconductors.

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Kanji

素elementary, principle, naked
珪jade scepter or tablet (authority symbol)
硅silicon

Related words

シリコン
シリコン is the common katakana term for the element silicon used in everyday and technical speech, while ケイ素 is the native Japanese scientific name for the same element.

Don't confuse with

シリコーン
ケイ素 is the chemical element silicon (Si) itself, whereas シリコーン is a man-made polymer produced from silicon.

Word family

ケイ素そ鋼こう
silicon steel
ケイ素そ樹じゅ脂し
silicone resin
炭たん化かケイ素そ
silicon carbide; SiC
窒ちっ化かケイ素そ
silicon nitride
二に酸さん化かケイ素そ
silicon dioxide; silica
四し塩えん化かケイ素そ
silicon tetrachloride

Written forms

ケイ素そUsage84%
Standard modern spelling for silicon, using katakana for the element name.
珪けい素そUsage16%
Older kanji form; still seen but less common than ケイ素.
硅けい素そ
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.

Etymology

From 珪 (kei, 'silicon') + 素 (so, 'element'). The kanji 珪 was originally used for silicon, but modern Japanese prefers the katakana form ケイ素.