'siliciclastic' originates from modern scientific English, specifically combining elements from Latin 'silica' (from earlier Latin 'silex, silicis') meaning 'flint, hard stone' and Greek 'klastos' (via Neo-Latin 'clastic') meaning 'broken'.

'siliciclastic' was formed in 20th-century geological usage by joining the prefix 'silici-' (from Latin 'silica') with 'clastic' (from Greek 'klastos' via Neo-Latin 'clasticus'), and became established to describe sediments and rocks made of broken silicate mineral fragments.

Initially the elements referred separately to 'silica' (a hard siliceous substance) and 'broken' (clastic); over time the compound came to mean 'composed of broken silicate mineral grains' in geological contexts.