ケイ素

Japanese

Kanji in this term
素
そ Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative spellings
珪素 硅素

Chemical element
Si
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Etymology

Compound of 珪 (kei, “silicon”, from 珪土 (keido, “silica”)) +‎ 素 (so, “element”). Appears in the 1900 work 化学語彙 (Kagaku Goi, “Chemical Vocabulary”) by 櫻井錠二 (Sakurai Jōji).

The spelling shifted to using katakana for the kei portion as part of a general trend in Japanese natural sciences.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) けーそ [kéꜜèsò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ke̞ːso̞]

Noun

ケイ素(そ) • (keiso) 

1. silicon, Si

Synonyms

• シリコン (shirikon)

Derived terms

• ケイ素(そ)鋼(こう) (keisokō): silicon steel
• ケイ素(そ)樹(じゅ)脂(し) (keiso jushi): silicone resin