Word Study
silica
CIDE DICTIONARY
silica, n. [NL., from L. silex, silics, a flint.].
Silicon dioxide, SiO/. It constitutes ordinary quartz (also opal and tridymite), and is artifically prepared as a very fine, white, tasteless, inodorous powder. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
silica, n. silicon dioxide, occurring as quartz etc. and as a principal constituent of sandstone and other rocks.
Idiom
silica gel hydrated silica in a hard granular form used as a desiccant.
Derivative
siliceous adj. (also silicious). silicic adj. silicify v.tr. & intr. (-ies, -ied). silicification n.
Etymology
L silex -icis flint, after alumina etc.
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