silicate

American  

[sil-i-kit, -keyt] / ˈsɪl ɪ kɪt, -ˌkeɪt /

noun

1. Mineralogy. any of the largest group of mineral compounds, as quartz, beryl, garnet, feldspar, mica, and various kinds of clay, consisting of SiO 2 or SiO 4 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.

2. Chemistry. any salt derived from the silicic acids or from silica.

---

silicate British  

/ ˈsɪlɪkɪt, -ˌkeɪt /

noun

1. 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

---

silicate Scientific  

/ sĭl′ĭ-kāt′ /

1. Any of a large class of chemical compounds composed of silicon, oxygen, and at least one metal. Most rocks and minerals are silicates.

2. Any mineral containing the group SiO ₄, either isolated, or joined to other groups in chains, sheets, or three-dimensional groups with metal elements. Micas and feldspars are silicate minerals.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonsilicate
  noun
• silication
  noun
• subsilicate
  noun

Etymology

Origin of silicate

First recorded in 1805–15; silic(a) + -ate ²

Example Sentences

Other samples were combined with water and materials commonly found in Martian sediment, including silicate based rocks and clay.

From Science Daily • Feb. 25, 2026

Bags of gabbro and similar calcium-bearing silicate rocks fill a shed out back and dot the office.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025

One such approach, called enhanced rock weathering, involves spreading finely ground silicate rocks, like basalt, on the ground or the ocean, which absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they weather in the rain.

From Salon • Jul. 18, 2024

After pouring hot aluminum into one of her stick-shaped molds and letting it cool in a pile of dirt, a participant took a ball-peen hammer and cracked open the rough silicate mold, like a geode.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2024

The lack of craters and mountains strongly suggests that a thick ice crust, perhaps 100 kilometers deep, jackets the silicate interior.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan