silk

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“
She had put on a loose gown of a thin Japanese silk--dull red in hue, a relic of other days.

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Definitions (65)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun A fine lustrous fiber composed mainly of fibroin and produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons, especially the strong, elastic, fibrous secretion of silkworms used to make thread and fabric.
  2. noun Thread or fabric made from this fiber.
  3. noun A garment made from this fabric.
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Examples (50)

  • The princess is clothed in Irish silk; pray give our service to the weavers. —  Selected English Letters (XV - XIX Centuries)
  • A swirling gown the color of peacock feathers, the silk was almost see-through but not quite, and it sparkled from the gold beading that went into the eye of the feathers. —  Yasmine Galenorn - [Sisters of the Moon 1] - Witchling
  • The sway of her hips under the silk was almost a woman's. —  Lilith Saintcrow - [Dante Valentine 2] - Dead Man Rising
  • She works in French silk satins, crinkle chiffons, crystals, and Chantilly lace. —  The Lingerie Post
  • Slide 19: Muga Silk Muga silk is a wonderful gift of nature extracted from a species of insect not to be found any where in the world except in the North Eastern region of India. —  Recently Uploaded Slideshows
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English sioloc, probably of Slavic origin (akin to Old Church Slavonic šelkŭ), ultimately from Greek sērikon, neuter of sērikos, silken; see serge1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English silk, sylk, selk, selc, seolk, from Anglo-Saxon seolc, seoloc, sioloc, sioluc (in comp.) (for *silc, like meolc, milk, for *milc) =Icelandic silki =Swedish Danish silke, silk; cf. Russian shelku =White Russian and Little Russian sholk =Old Prussian silkas, silk, =Lithuanian shilkai, shilkos, silk, silkas, silk threads, =Hungarian selyem, silk, all prob. from Scandinavian; Old High German silecho, selecho, selacho, a robe (from Slav.?) (cf. English serge, from French serge =Provencal serga, sirgua =Spanish sarga =Portuguese sarja =Italian sargia, serge, silken stuff, =Irish siric, silken, from Latin serica, feminine); from Latin sericum, silk, plural serica, silken garments, silks, literally Seric stuff, neuter of Sericus, from Greek Σηρικός, pertaining to the Seres, Seric, from Greek Σῆρες, Latin Seres, a people of eastern Asia celebrated for their silks: see Seric. The Chinese name for silk is szĕ, szŭ, sz', with variants sei, si, whence Corean sa, sil, sir, Mongol sereg, silk, from se (from Chinese szĕ, sei) + -reg, a suffix of Tatar languages. The Chinese word is prob. not connected with the European, except that the Greek Σῆρες may mean the Chinese, and be based on the Chinese name for silk. For the more common Teutonic word for ‘silk,’ see say.
 

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/sɪlk/
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