What does silk mean?
Definitions for silk
sɪlksilk
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word silk.
Princeton's WordNet
silknoun
a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae
silknoun
animal fibers produced by silkworms and other larvae that spin cocoons and by most spiders
Wiktionary
silknoun
A fine fiber excreted by the silkworm or other arthropod (such as a spider).
The silk thread was barely visible.
silknoun
A fine, soft cloth woven from silk fibers.
I had a small square of silk, but it wasn't enough to make what I wanted.
silknoun
The gown worn by a Senior (i.e. Queen's/King's) Counsel
silknoun
a Senior (i.e. Queen's/King's) Counsel
Etymology: sioloc, seolc. The immediate source is uncertain; it probably reached English via the Baltic trade routes (cognates in Old Norse silki, Russian шёлк, obsolete Lithuanian zilkaĩ), all ultimately from sericum, neuter of sericus, from σηρικός, ultimately from an Oriental language (represented now by e.g. Chinese 絲). Compare Seres.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Silknoun
Etymology: seolc , Saxon.
The worms were hallow’d that did breed the silk;
And it was dy’d in mummy, which the skilful
Conserv’d of maiden’s hearts. William Shakespeare, Othello.Let not the creaking of shoes, or rustling of silks betray thy poor heart to woman. William Shakespeare.
He caused the shore to be covered with Persian silk for him to tread upon. Richard Knolles.
Without the worm, in Persian silks we shine. Edmund Waller.
Wikipedia
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors. Silk is produced by several insects; but, generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, but some insects, such as webspinners and raspy crickets, produce silk throughout their lives. Silk production also occurs in hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), silverfish, caddisflies, mayflies, thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies, and midges. Other types of arthropods produce silk, most notably various arachnids, such as spiders.
ChatGPT
silk
Silk is a fine, strong, lustrous, natural fiber produced by certain insect larvae, primarily the mulberry silkworm, to form their cocoons. It is then harvested and spun into a thread or fabric. Traditionally associated with luxury and elegance, silk is used in clothing, upholstery, bedding, and various other textile applications due to its softness, shine, and durability. It is also known for its breathability and ability to absorb moisture.
Webster Dictionary
Silknoun
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 larvae of Bombyx mori
Silknoun
hence, thread spun, or cloth woven, from the above-named material
Silknoun
that which resembles silk, as the filiform styles of the female flower of maize
Etymology: [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.]
Wikidata
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fibre of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity. The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors. Silks are produced by several other insects, but generally only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other silks, which differ at the molecular level. Many silks are mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, but some adult insects such as webspinners produce silk, and some insects such as raspy crickets produce silk throughout their lives. Silk production also occurs in Hymenoptera, silverfish, mayflies, thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies and midges. Other types of arthropod produce silk, most notably various arachnids such as spiders.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Silk
silk, n. the delicate, soft thread produced by the larvæ of certain bombycid moths which feed on the leaves of the mulberry, &c.: thread or cloth woven from it: anything resembling silk, the styles of maize, the silky lustre in the ruby, &c.—adj. pertaining to, or consisting of, silk.—n. Silk′-cott′on, the silky seed-covering of various species of Bombax.—adjs. Silk′en, made of silk: dressed in silk: resembling silk: soft: delicate; Silk′-fig′ured, having the ornamental pattern in silk.—ns. Silk′-gown, or The silk, the robe of a queen's or king's counsel, instead of the stuff-gown of the ordinary barrister—hence 'to take silk'=to be appointed Q.C.; Silk′-grass, Adam's needle, or bear-grass; Silk′iness; Silk′-man (Shak.), a dealer in silks; Silk′-mer′cer, a mercer or dealer in silks; Silk′-mill, a mill for the manufacture of silks; Silk′-pa′per, tissue-paper; Silk′-reel, a machine in which raw silk is unwound from the cocoons, and wound into a thread; Silk′-throw′er, -throw′ster, one who manufactures thrown-silk or organzine, silk thread formed by twisting together two or more threads or singles; Silk′-weav′er, a weaver of silk stuffs; Silk′worm, the bombycid moth whose larva produces silk; Silk′worm-gut, a material used by anglers for dressing the hook-end of the fishing-line, consisting of the drawn-out glands of the silkworm when these are fully distended.—adj. Silk′y, like silk in texture: soft: smooth: glossy. [A.S. seolc—L. sericum—Gr. sērikon, neut. of adj. Sērikos, pertaining to the Sēres—Sēr, a native of China.]
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Silk
A continuous protein fiber consisting primarily of FIBROINS. It is synthesized by a variety of INSECTS and ARACHNIDS.
Editors Contribution
silk
A natural protein fibre.
Silk is produced by silkworms and other insects who have a cocoon.
Submitted by MaryC on February 14, 2017
silk
A type of cloth or fabric.
Silk is used to make clothing e.g. shirts and blouses.
Submitted by MaryC on February 14, 2017
silk
A type of thread.
Silk is gathered and used to make thread and cloth.
Submitted by MaryC on February 14, 2017
Suggested Resources
silk
Song lyrics by silk -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by silk on the Lyrics.com website.
SILK
What does SILK stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the SILK acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.
Entomology
Silk
the hardened salivary secretion of certain larvae, mainly of Lepidoptera. similar material is produced by anal glands of some larva in Neuroptera.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
SILK
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Silk is ranked #10140 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Silk surname appeared 3,180 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Silk.
83.4% or 2,653 total occurrences were White.
6.4% or 205 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
4.1% or 133 total occurrences were Asian.
2.8% or 91 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
2% or 65 total occurrences were of two or more races.
1% or 33 total occurrences were Black.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'silk' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4080
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'silk' in Nouns Frequency: #1626
Anagrams for silk »
skil
lisk
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of silk in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of silk in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of silk in a Sentence
Using Italian silk is very important to us because we know who has made it and how. For our purposes we need extremely clean cocoons.
A silk cup can be thrown away without harmful effects to the environment -- unlike a polystyrene cup, it's edible, so you can do smart packaging around food and can cook it with the food. It doesn't taste good, so I'm going to need some help with that.
I think the potential for growing these crystal fibers is much higher [than spider silk] because it's just about growing them to a particular size, i think this is going to be a much greater opportunity for materials that have high strength.
At first Egypt traded in cotton and silk now they import so the industry is weak, before there was funding by the government.
Inside is beautifully upholstered in primrose yellow silk, and also fitted into the interior, our particular specimen woods. It’s a real microcosm of British and world history. There’re woods from the royal residences, from explorations and from other countries and nations as well.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for silk
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- حريرArabic
- шоўкBelarusian
- коприна, свилаBulgarian
- রেশমBengali
- seizBreton
- sedaCatalan, Valencian
- hedvábíCzech
- sidanWelsh
- silkeDanish
- Seide, die SeideGerman
- μετάξι, μέταξαGreek
- silkoEsperanto
- sedaSpanish
- siidEstonian
- zetaBasque
- پرند, دیبا, حریر, پرنیان, سیلک, ابریشمPersian
- silkkiFinnish
- soieFrench
- síodaIrish
- sìoda, sròlScottish Gaelic
- serda, sedaGalician
- રેશમGujarati
- sheeideyManx
- משיHebrew
- रेशमHindi
- selyemszál, selyemHungarian
- մետաքսArmenian
- sutraIndonesian
- silkoIdo
- silkiIcelandic
- setaItalian
- 絹糸, 絹地, 絹布, 絹, シルクJapanese
- აბრეშუმიGeorgian
- សូត្រ, ព្រែKhmer
- ರೇಷ್ಮೆKannada
- 비단, 명주, 緋緞, 明紬, 실크Korean
- ئاوریشمKurdish
- owrlinCornish
- sēricumLatin
- šilkasLithuanian
- hirakaMāori
- свилаMacedonian
- торгон утас, торгомсог даавууMongolian
- suteraMalay
- ħarirMaltese
- ပိုးBurmese
- silkeNorwegian
- zijde, rag, spinrag, zijdedoekDutch
- silkeNorwegian Nynorsk
- silkeNorwegian
- naakʼaʼatʼą́hí disǫsígííNavajo, Navaho
- sedaOccitan
- ରେଶମOriya
- jedwab, jedwabiuPolish
- sedaPortuguese
- seida, mãtase, saida, sedaRomansh
- mătaseRomanian
- шёлкRussian
- seta, seda, seraSardinian
- свила, svilaSerbo-Croatian
- hodvábSlovak
- svilaSlovene
- sutraSundanese
- siden, silkeSwedish
- haririSwahili
- பட்டுTamil
- పట్టుTelugu
- ผ้าไหม, ไหมThai
- ýüpekTurkmen
- ipekTurkish
- шовкUkrainian
- ریشمUrdu
- lụa, vải lụaVietnamese
- soyeWalloon
- 丝Chinese
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