SEMICONDUCTOR
Dictionary entry overview: What does semiconductor mean?
• SEMICONDUCTOR (noun)
The noun SEMICONDUCTOR has 2 senses:
1. a substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities
2. a conductor made with semiconducting material
Familiarity information: SEMICONDUCTOR used as a noun is rare.
Dictionary entry details
• SEMICONDUCTOR (noun)
Meaning:
A substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities
Classified under:
Nouns denoting substances
Synonyms:
semiconducting material; semiconductor
Hypernyms ("semiconductor" is a kind of...):
conductor (a substance that readily conducts e.g. electricity and heat)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "semiconductor"):
atomic number 32; Ge; germanium (a brittle grey crystalline element that is a semiconducting metalloid (resembling silicon) used in transistors; occurs in germanite and argyrodite)
atomic number 14; Si; silicon (a tetravalent nonmetallic element; next to oxygen it is the most abundant element in the earth's crust; occurs in clay and feldspar and granite and quartz and sand; used as a semiconductor in transistors)
Holonyms ("semiconductor" is a substance of...):
semiconductor; semiconductor device; semiconductor unit (a conductor made with semiconducting material)
Meaning:
A conductor made with semiconducting material
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
semiconductor device; semiconductor unit; semiconductor
Hypernyms ("semiconductor" is a kind of...):
conductor (a device designed to transmit electricity, heat, etc.)
Meronyms (substance of "semiconductor"):
semiconducting material; semiconductor (a substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "semiconductor"):
chip; micro chip; microchip; silicon chip (electronic equipment consisting of a small crystal of a silicon semiconductor fabricated to carry out a number of electronic functions in an integrated circuit)
crystal rectifier; diode; junction rectifier; semiconductor diode (a semiconductor that consists of a p-n junction)
n-type semiconductor (a semiconductor in which electrical conduction is due chiefly to the movement of electrons)
p-type semiconductor (a semiconductor in which electrical conduction is due chiefly to the movement of positive holes)
thermal resistor; thermistor (a semiconductor device made of materials whose resistance varies as a function of temperature; can be used to compensate for temperature variation in other components of a circuit)
electronic transistor; junction transistor; transistor (a semiconductor device capable of amplification)
