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

Usually, Nvidia details the specs and capabilities of its latest chips at its spring developer conference in Silicon Valley.

From The Wall Street Journal

Tegmark’s views on AI have made him controversial to some in Silicon Valley.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ma, who is based in Silicon Valley, would like to bring her own children to a factory like Xiaomi’s, but will have to wait a few years.

From The Wall Street Journal

A bigger question is whether the tax would discourage future start-ups in Silicon Valley, where the low survival rate of new businesses is already lamented.

From Barron's

A crowd of Silicon Valley startups like 1X and Figure, other manufacturers like Hyundai’s Boston Dynamics, and Chinese robotics companies are eager to sell their robots that can fold laundry or manufacture vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal