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silk

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silk¹

  • /sɪlk/

Rhymes with -ɪlk

Where it comes from

From Middle English silk, sylk, selk, selc, from Old English sioloc, seoloc, seolc (“silk”). The immediate source is uncertain; it probably reached English via the Baltic trade routes (cognates in Old Norse silki (> Danish silke, Swedish silke (“silk”)), Russian шёлк (šolk), obsolete Lithuanian zilkai̇̃), all ultimately from Late Latin sēricus, from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós), ultimately from an Oriental language (represented now by e.g. Chinese 絲 /丝 (sī, “silk”)). Displaced Old English sīde (“silk”). Compare Seres. Doublet of seric and serge.

noun silks

  1. uncountable A fine fiber excreted by the silkworm or other arthropod (such as a spider). We harvested a load of silk from the silkworm farm.
  2. countable, uncountable A thread or yarn made from silk fibers. This is sewn from silk.
  3. countable, uncountable A fine, soft cloth woven from silk yarn or thread. I'll buy a couple yards of silk.
  4. countable, in plural, uncountable A pair of long silk sheets suspended in the air on which a performer performs tricks. She's a master with the silks.
  5. countable, uncountable A parachute.
  6. countable, uncountable An article of clothing made from silk cloth. He's wearing his silk.
  7. countable, plural normally, uncountable The garments worn by a jockey displaying the colors of the horse's owner.
  8. countable, uncountable The gown worn by a Senior (i.e., Queen's/King's) Counsel.
  9. colloquial, countable, figuratively, metonymically, uncountable A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel.
  10. countable, uncountable Anything which resembles silk, such as the filiform styles of the female flower of maize or the seed covering of bombaxes. Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.

verb silks · silking · silked

  1. intransitive, of corn To develop silk.
  2. transitive To remove the silk from (corn). While we shucked and silked the corn, we talked, sang old nursery rhymes […]

Silk²

proper noun Silks

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a seller of silk.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: seta, beard, pear, floss, tissue, fiber, thread, dress, canvas, glimmer, ray, shredded, spectre, silke, specter, throwing

Translations

Every language

noun fiber

Españolseda
한국어명주 myeongju, 비단 bidan
日本語絹 kinu, 絹糸 kinuito
中文絲 /丝 sī, 絲線 /丝线 sīxiàn
हिन्दीकौशेय kauśey, रेशम reśam, हरीर harīr
Kiswahilihariri
Portuguêsseda
Françaissoie
DeutschSeide
Italianoseta
Ελληνικάμέταξα métaxa, μετάξι metáxi
Românămătase
Русскийшёлк šolk
Tiếng Việttơ, chỉ tơ
العربيةحَرِير ḥarīr, إبْرِيسِم ʔibrīsim, إبْرَيْسَم ʔibraysam
עבריתמֶשִׁי méshi

noun fabric

Españolseda
한국어비단 bidan
日本語絹 kinu, 絹布 kenpu, 絹地 kinuji
中文絲 /丝 sī, 絲綢 /丝绸 sīchóu
हिन्दीरेशम reśam, कौशेय kauśey
Portuguêsseda
Françaissoie
DeutschSeide
Italianoseta
Ελληνικάμετάξι metáxi
Românămătase
Русскийшёлк šolk
Tiếng Việtvải lụa, lụa, tơ lụa, xoa
العربيةحَرِير ḥarīr, إبْرِيسِم ʔibrīsim, إبْرَيْسَم ʔibraysam
עבריתמֶשִׁי méshi

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MLA

"silk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/silk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

silk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/silk

Chicago

"silk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/silk.

BibTeX
@misc{silk_2026,
  title = {silk},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/silk},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}