silíceo
/siliθeo/from spelling rules
The Spanish word for siliceous is silíceo.
Relating to silica (adj).
Meaning: relating to silica (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, silíceo must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Use silícea for feminine singular nouns, silíceos for masculine plural nouns and silíceas for feminine plural nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/siliθeo/
Did you know?
- The word sílice comes from the Latin silex, which originally referred to a flint stone used to start fires.
- The suffix -eo in silíceo is a linguistic relative of the English suffix -eous, meaning both languages evolved a nearly identical way to turn a mineral noun into an adjective.
- While 'siliceous' in English is a common geological descriptor, using silíceo in a non-scientific Spanish conversation might strike a listener as overly academic or pedantic.
Examples in context
- El suelo de esta región es predominantemente silíceo, lo que favorece el cultivo de ciertas plantas.The soil in this region is predominantly siliceous, which favors the growth of certain plants.
- Este es un sedimento silíceo.This is a siliceous sediment.
- El suelo tiene un contenido silíceo alto.The soil has a high siliceous content.
Example conversation
Daniel and Lucía are looking at mineral samples in a laboratory.
- Daniel¿Es esta muestra de origen silíceo, Lucía?Is this sample of siliceous origin, Lucía?
- LucíaSí, Daniel, es una roca silícea pura.Yes, Daniel, it is a pure siliceous rock.
- DanielSe ve muy cristalina.It looks very crystalline.
- LucíaEs común en este tipo de formación.It is common in this type of formation.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “siliceous” translations and entries silíceo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
