Silex
Encyclopedia
Silex is any of various forms of ground stone. In modern contexts the word refers to a finely ground, nearly pure form of silica or silicate
.
The first known use of silex
occurs during the Stone Age, it was used for the manufacture of flint tools as it splits into thin, sharp splinters called flakes or blades (depending on the shape) when struck by another hard object (such as a hammerstone made of another material).
Then in Ancient Rome
it is used as a road surface: "Under Nerva
and Trajan
the Via Appia was repaired; one inscription records expressly the paving with silex (replacing the former gravelling
) of the section from Tripontium
, 4 miles (6 km) northwest, to Forum Appii".
In circa 1590, as a Renaissance
—Early Modern Era term in Latin
, it meant powdered or ground up "flint
s" (i.e. stones, generally meaning the class of "Hard Rocks")
It was later used in 1787 when describing experiments in a published paper by Antoine Lavoisier
where such earths are mentioned as the source of his isolation of the element silicon
. Silex is now most commonly used to describe finely ground silicate
s used as pigments in paint
.
Silicate
A silicate is a compound containing a silicon bearing anion. The great majority of silicates are oxides, but hexafluorosilicate and other anions are also included. This article focuses mainly on the Si-O anions. Silicates comprise the majority of the earth's crust, as well as the other...
.
The first known use of silex
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
occurs during the Stone Age, it was used for the manufacture of flint tools as it splits into thin, sharp splinters called flakes or blades (depending on the shape) when struck by another hard object (such as a hammerstone made of another material).
Then in Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
it is used as a road surface: "Under Nerva
Nerva
Nerva , was Roman Emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became Emperor at the age of sixty-five, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the rulers of the Flavian dynasty. Under Nero, he was a member of the imperial entourage and played a vital part in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy of 65...
and Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
the Via Appia was repaired; one inscription records expressly the paving with silex (replacing the former gravelling
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
) of the section from Tripontium
Tripontium
Tripontium was a town in Roman Britain. It lay on the Roman road later called Watling Street at a site now chiefly within the civil parish of Newton and Biggin in the English county of Warwickshire and partly in Leicestershire, some 3.4 miles north-east of Rugby and 3.1 miles south of...
, 4 miles (6 km) northwest, to Forum Appii".
In circa 1590, as a Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
—Early Modern Era term in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, it meant powdered or ground up "flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
s" (i.e. stones, generally meaning the class of "Hard Rocks")
It was later used in 1787 when describing experiments in a published paper by Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...
where such earths are mentioned as the source of his isolation of the element silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
. Silex is now most commonly used to describe finely ground silicate
Silicate
A silicate is a compound containing a silicon bearing anion. The great majority of silicates are oxides, but hexafluorosilicate and other anions are also included. This article focuses mainly on the Si-O anions. Silicates comprise the majority of the earth's crust, as well as the other...
s used as pigments in paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
.
Other uses
"Silex" may also refer to- Silence expectation theory: Is a new theory that channels the expectations of customers or employees. In this theory companies strive to meet or exceed the expectations of their customers.
- a coffee machine, sometimes in a genericised trademark sense, but originally the Silex was a specific brand of vacuum coffee machines made by the eponymEponymAn eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous company that later became Proctor-Silex.- Proctor-Silex, a company making small appliances.
- the Silex ProcessSilex ProcessSILEX is an acronym for Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation , a technology developed in the 1990s for isotope separation to produce enriched uranium using lasers....
, a laser separation technique for uranium enrichment. - Silex Flash CMSSilex Flash CMSSilex is a CMS, classified in the Flash CMS family. Key features are an WYSIWYG environment to edit a publication and a manager application to manage permissions and multiple publications settings.-History:...
is an Open Source Flash CMSFlash CMSA Flash Content Management System is a Content Management System specifically designed to create and manage Adobe Flash Content. The main purpose of a Flash CMS is to generate Flash content within a browser environment. To qualify as a Flash CMS an application must be able to manage text, images,...
. - Silex, MissouriSilex, MissouriSilex is a village in Lincoln County, Missouri, United States. The population was 206 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Silex is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....
, a village in Lincoln County, Missouri, United States.