Silicon Valley

American  

noun

1. the area in northern California, southwest of San Francisco in the Santa Clara valley region, where many of the high-technology design and manufacturing companies in the semiconductor industry are concentrated.

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Silicon Valley British  

noun

1. an industrial strip in W California, extending S of San Francisco, in which the US information technology industry is concentrated

2. any area in which industries associated with information technology are concentrated

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Silicon Valley Cultural  

1. A region on the San Francisco Peninsula in California where the miniaturized electronics industry is centered, so called because most of the devices built there are made of semiconductors such as silicon.

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The term is often used as a catchword to describe the development of high-tech industry (see also high-tech): “If we can attract this corporation to our town, we could become another Silicon Valley.”

Etymology

Origin of Silicon Valley

So called from the silicon wafers employed in semiconductor devices

Example Sentences

The talk show began in October 2024 and quickly became all the rage among the Silicon Valley tech crowd.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Allbirds, an eco-friendly shoe company that won over Silicon Valley, was sold a fraction of the $4 billion it was once worth.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

As the OpenClaw craze takes over Silicon Valley, some startups are combining the tech with AI coding tools to fully automate developers’ jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

While the practice is quickly spreading across Silicon Valley, there are still plenty of concerns about cybersecurity and larger, existential questions about the future of human-based software engineering.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Before there were computers in Silicon Valley, before the land gave way to industrial design, there was fruit.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel