silken
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silken
- /ˈsɪlkən/
Rhymes with -ɪlkən
Where it comes from
From Middle English silken, selken, from Old English seolcen, from seolc (“silk”) + -en, from an unattested early Proto-West Germanic borrowing from Latin sēricum, from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós, “silken”), from σήρ (sḗr, “silkworm”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”). Equivalent to silk + -en (“made of”). Cognate with Scots silken (“silken”), Icelandic silki (“silken”).
adjective
- Made of silk. a silken veil
- Having a smooth, soft, or light texture. [L]ove is not to be bought, in any ſenſe of the vvords, its ſilken vvings are inſtantly ſhrivelled up vvhen any thing beſide a return in kind is ſought.
- Suave. […] an admired silken-mannered gentleman in society, a tolerable polecat at home […]
- Having a smooth, soft, or flowing utterance; attractive or (typically derogatory) convincing through pleasing expression. Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise, / Three-piled hyperboles, spruce affectation, / Figures pedantical; these summer-flies / Have blown me full of maggot ostentation:
- Dressed in silk. [S]hall a beardless boy, / A cocker’d silken wanton, brave our fields […]?
verb silkens · silkening · silkened
- To render silken or silklike. silkening body lotion
Translations
Talk about this word "silken." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/silken. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. silken. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/silken "silken." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/silken.Cite this
@misc{silken_2026,
title = {silken},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/silken},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
