Link Centre Dictionary

silk

UK/sɪlk/ US/ˈsɪlk/ common

noun

1.

a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae

2.

fibers from silkworm cocoons provide threads for knitting

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • ahimsa silk
  • cactus silk
  • corn silk
  • fart through silk
  • floss silk
  • flox silk
  • glass silk
  • golden silk orb-weaver

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.