(n.) A nonmetallic element analogous to carbon. It always occurs combined in nature, and is artificially obtained in the free state, usually as a dark brown amorphous powder, or as a dark crystalline substance with a metallic luster. Its oxide is silica, or common quartz, and in this form, or as silicates, it is, next to oxygen, the most abundant element of the earth's crust. Silicon is characteristically the element of the mineral kingdom, as carbon is of the organic world. Symbol Si. Atomic weight 28. Called also silicium.

amphibole antimony apatite aplite arsenic asbestos asphalt azurite bauxite billiard table bitumen boron bowling alley bowling green brimstone bromine brucite calcite carbon celestite chalcedony chalk chlorite chromite clay coal coke corundum cryolite diatomite driven snow emery epidote epsomite feldspar flat fleece flour foam garnet glass glauconite graphite gypsum hatchettine holosiderite ice iron pyrites ivory jet kyanite level lignite lily lime maggot magnesite mahogany malachite maltha marble marcasite marl meerschaum mica milk mineral coal mineral oil mineral salt mineral tallow mineral tar mineral wax molybdenite monazite obsidian olivine ozokerite paper pearl peat perlite phosphate rock phosphorus plane pumice pyrite pyrites pyroxene quartz realgar red clay rhodonite rock crystal rocks salt satin selenite selenium sheet siderite silica silicate silicon silk silver slide smooth snow spar spinel spodumene sulfur swan talc talcum tellurium tennis court velvet wollastonite wulfenite zeolite