Silicon Valley

American  

noun

1. the area in northern California, southwest of San Francisco in the Santa Clara valley region, where many of the high-technology design and manufacturing companies in the semiconductor industry are concentrated.

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Silicon Valley British  

noun

1. an industrial strip in W California, extending S of San Francisco, in which the US information technology industry is concentrated

2. any area in which industries associated with information technology are concentrated

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Silicon Valley Cultural  

1. A region on the San Francisco Peninsula in California where the miniaturized electronics industry is centered, so called because most of the devices built there are made of semiconductors such as silicon.

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The term is often used as a catchword to describe the development of high-tech industry (see also high-tech): “If we can attract this corporation to our town, we could become another Silicon Valley.”

Etymology

Origin of Silicon Valley

So called from the silicon wafers employed in semiconductor devices

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Silicon Valley

OpenAI, the Silicon Valley giant run by Sam Altman, gave two of its models a test recently to judge how well they can hack on their own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

This year, Gave adds, it’s Moonshot that’s generating the anxiety in Silicon Valley.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The main export hub is the Pacific state of Jalisco, dubbed the "Mexican Silicon Valley," where an ecosystem of global industry giants and tech startups have set up shop, Flores said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

The Sunday preview release came days after China’s Moonshot launched its Kimi K3 model, surprising many in Silicon Valley with its advanced capabilities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

By 2002, according to the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, more than 34 million subscribers were using that network for web access, email, and other functions.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel