English Explanatory Dictionary

silk

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A fine fiber excreted by the silkworm or other arthropod (such as a spider).
  2. A fine, soft cloth woven from silk fibers.
  3. Anything which resembles silk, such as the filiform styles of the female flower of maize, or the seed covering of bombaxes.
  4. The gown worn by a Senior (i.e. Queen's/King's) Counsel.
  5. A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel.
  6. A pair of long silk sheets suspended in the air on which a performer performs tricks.
  7. The garments worn by a jockey displaying the colors of the horse's owner.
verb
  1. To remove the silk from (corn).
name
  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a seller of silk.

Pronunciation

sĭlk /sɪlk/ en-us-silk.ogg

Word forms

silk silks silking silked

Etymology

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”)). Compare Seres. Doublet of seric and serge.

Related words

sericin

Derived words

ahimsa silk cactus silk cornsilk corn silk crow-silk desilk fart through silk floss silk floss-silk flox silk glass silk golden silk orb-weaver hit the silk make a silk purse of a sow's ear nonsilk oiled silk peace silk raw silk sabra silk sea silk silk-cotton tree silk elevator silken silker silkette silkgrass silkgrower silkgrowing silkless silklike silkman silk moss silkmoth silkness silk-oak silk oak silk paper silk press silkpunk silkscreen silk screen effect silk-screen printing silk serge silk shag silk-stocking silkstone silktail silktassel silk tree silkware silkwear silkweaver silkweaving silkweed silkwoman silkwork silkworks silkworm silky smooth as silk

Translations

Albanian: mëndafsh Southern Altai: торко Southern Altai: јибек Arabic: حَرِير Arabic: إبْرِيسِم Arabic: إبْرَيْسَم Arabic: حرير Armenian: մետաքս Aromanian: mãtase Asturian: seda Azerbaijani: ipək Belarusian: шоўк Belarusian: ядва́б Bengali: সিল্ক Bengali: রেশম Bulgarian: копри́на Burmese: ပိုး Catalan: seda Chinese Cantonese: 絲 /丝 Chinese Cantonese: 絲綢 /丝绸 Chinese: сычу Chinese: 絲 /丝 Chinese: 絲綢 /丝绸 Eastern Min Chinese: 絲綢 /丝绸 Hakka Chinese: 絲綢 /丝绸 Chinese Mandarin: 絲 /丝 Chinese Mandarin: 絲綢 /丝绸 Northern Min Chinese: 絲綢 /丝绸 Wu Chinese: 絲綢 /丝绸 Czech: hedvábí Dalmatian: saita Danish: silke Dutch: zijde Dutch: zijdedoek Estonian: siid Faroese: silki Finnish: silkki French: soie Friulian: sede Galician: seda Galician: serda Georgian: აბრეშუმი German: Seide Greek: μετάξι Ancient Greek: μέταξα Ancient Greek: σηρικόν Hawaiian: lole paheʻe Hebrew: מֶשִׁי Hindi: रेशम Hindi: कौशेय Hungarian: selyem Icelandic: silki Ingrian: šulkku Irish: síoda Irish: éadach síoda
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