# silica vs silicon

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### silica
*noun · IPA /ˈsɪl.ɪ.kə/ · frequency rank #20,498*
Silicon dioxide.

### silicon
*noun · IPA /ˈsɪlɪkən/ · frequency rank #7,179*
A nonmetallic element (symbol Si) with an atomic number of 14 and atomic weight of 28.0855.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silica-vs-silicon