Silk definition | Dictionary.com

silk

[silk]

–noun

1.	the soft, lustrous fiber obtained as a filament from the cocoon of the silkworm.

2.	thread made from this fiber.

3.	cloth made from this fiber.

4.	a garment of this cloth.

5.	a gown of such material worn distinctively by a King's or Queen's Counsel at the English bar.

6.	silks, the blouse and peaked cap, considered together, worn by a jockey or sulky driver in a race.

7.	Informal. a parachute, esp. one opened aloft.

8.	any fiber or filamentous matter resembling silk, as a filament produced by certain spiders, the thread of a mollusk, or the like.

9.	the hairlike styles on an ear of corn.

10.

British Informal.

a.	a King's or Queen's Counsel.

b.	any barrister of high rank.

–adjective

11.	made of silk.

12.	resembling silk; silky.

13.	of or pertaining to silk.

–verb (used without object)

14.	(of corn) to be in the course of developing silk.

—Idioms

15.	hit the silk, Slang. to parachute from an aircraft; bail out.

16.	take silk, British. to become a Queen's or King's Counsel.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME (n.); OE sioloc, seol(o)c (c. ON silki), by uncert. transmission < Gk sērikón silk, n. use of neut. of sērikós silken, lit., Chinese, deriv. of Sêres the Chinese (Russ shëlk, OPruss silkas (gen.) “silk” appear to be < Gmc); cf. seric-

Related forms:

silklike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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silk (sĭlk)

1. 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. Thread or fabric made from this fiber.
3. A garment made from this fabric.
silks The brightly colored identifying garments of a jockey or harness driver.
A silky filamentous material, such as the webbing spun by certain spiders or the styles forming a tuft on an ear of corn.

adj. Composed of or similar to the fiber or the fabric silk.
intr.v. silked, silk·ing, silks
To develop silk. Used of corn.

[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.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Silk

Silk\, n. [OE. silk, selk, AS. seolc, seoloc; akin to Icel. silki, SW. & Dan. silke; prob. through Slavic from an Oriental source; cf. Lith. szilkai, Russ. shelk', and also L. sericum Seric stuff, silk. Cf. Sericeous. Serge a woolen stuff.]

1. The fine, soft thread produced by various species of caterpillars in forming the cocoons within which the worm is inclosed during the pupa state, especially that produced by the larv[ae] of Bombyx mori.

2. Hence, thread spun, or cloth woven, from the above-named material.

3. That which resembles silk, as the filiform styles of the female flower of maize.

Raw silk, silk as it is wound off from the cocoons, and before it is manufactured.

Silk cotton, a cottony substance enveloping the seeds of the silk-cotton tree.

Silk-cotton tree (Bot.), a name for several tropical trees of the genera Bombax and Eriodendron, and belonging to the order Bombace[ae]. The trees grow to an immense size, and have their seeds enveloped in a cottony substance, which is used for stuffing cushions, but can not be spun.

Silk flower. (Bot.) (a) The silk tree. (b) A similar tree (Calliandra trinervia) of Peru.

Silk fowl (Zo["o]l.), a breed of domestic fowls having silky plumage.

Silk gland (Zo["o]l.), a gland which secretes the material of silk, as in spider or a silkworm; a sericterium.

Silk gown, the distinctive robe of a barrister who has been appointed king's or queen's counsel; hence, the counsel himself. Such a one has precedence over mere barristers, who wear stuff gowns. [Eng.]

Silk grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Stipa comata) of the Western United States, which has very long silky awns. The name is also sometimes given to various species of the genera Aqave and Yucca.

Silk moth (Zo["o]l.), the adult moth of any silkworm. See Silkworm.

Silk shag, a coarse, rough-woven silk, like plush, but with a stiffer nap.

Silk spider (Zo["o]l.), a large spider (Nephila plumipes), native of the Southern United States, remarkable for the large quantity of strong silk it produces and for the great disparity in the sizes of the sexes.

Silk thrower, Silk throwster, one who twists or spins silk, and prepares it for weaving. --Brande & C.

Silk tree (Bot.), an Asiatic leguminous tree (Albizzia Julibrissin) with finely bipinnate leaves, and large flat pods; -- so called because of the abundant long silky stamens of its blossoms. Also called silk flower.

Silk vessel. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Silk gland, above.

Virginia silk (Bot.), a climbing plant (Periploca Gr[ae]ca) of the Milkweed family, having a silky tuft on the seeds. It is native in Southern Europe.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Silk

Spanish: seda,

German: die Seide,

Japanese: 絹

More Translations »

silk

O.E. sioloc, seoloc "silk," ultimately from an Asian word (cf. Chinese si "silk," Manchurian sirghe, Mongolian sirkek) borrowed into Gk. as serikos "silken," serikon "silk" (cf. Gk. Seres, a name for an oriental people from whom the Greeks got silk). The use of -l- instead of -r- in the Balto-Slavic form of the word (cf. O.C.S. shelku, Lith. silkai) apparently passed into English via the Baltic trade and may reflect a Chinese dialectal form, or a Slavic alteration of the Gk. word. Also found in O.N. silki but not elsewhere in Gmc. Western cultivation began 552 C.E., when agents from Byzantium impersonating monks smuggled silkworms and mulberry leaves out of China. In ref to the "hair" of corn, c.1662, Amer.Eng. Silken is O.E. seolcen; silky is attested from 1611. Silkworm is O.E. seolcwyrm. Figurative use of silk-stocking (adj.) for "wealthy" is attested from 1798, Amer.Eng. Silk-screen is first attested 1930.

Main Entry: silk
Pronunciation: 'silk
Function: noun
1 : a fine continuous protein fiber produced by various insect larvae usually for cocoons;especially : a lustrous tough elastic fiber produced by silkworms and used for textiles
2 : strands of silk thread of various thicknesses used as suture material insurgery silk>

silk (sĭlk) Pronunciation Key

A fiber produced by silkworms to form cocoons. Silk is strong, flexible, and fibrous, and is essentially a long continuous strand of protein. It is widely used to make thread and fabric.
A substance similar to the silk of the silkworm but produced by other insect larvae or by spiders to spin webs.

Silk

Heb. demeshek, "damask," silk cloth manufactured at Damascus, Amos 3:12. A.V., "in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch;" R.V., "in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed" (marg., "in Damascus on a bed"). Heb. meshi, (Ezek. 16:10, 13, rendered "silk"). In Gen. 41:42 (marg. A.V.), Prov. 31:22 (R.V., "fine linen"), the word "silk" ought to be "fine linen." Silk was common in New Testament times (Rev. 18:12).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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silk

see can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; smooth as silk.

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