# silk

Pronunciation: say "SILK" /sɪlk/

## Noun

1. A fine, soft cloth woven from the fibers of the silkworm.
   - Simple: A soft, smooth cloth made from threads spun by silkworms.
   - _The merchant sold bolts of fine silk imported from China._
   - _She wore a blouse of cream-colored silk to the gala._
2. A fine fiber produced by silkworms and other arthropods such as spiders.
   - Simple: A thin, strong thread made by silkworms and spiders.
   - _Spiders spin silk to trap prey and anchor their webs._
   - _Each silkworm secretes silk to form its protective cocoon._
3. Any silk-like material, such as the threadlike styles of a female corn flower or the fibrous seed covering of certain trees.
   - Simple: Something that looks or feels like silk, such as the fine threads on an ear of corn.
   - _Cooks usually strip every strand of silk from the corn before roasting it._
   - _The kapok pods split to reveal silk surrounding the seeds._
4. The brightly colored garments worn by a jockey to display the colors of the horse's owner.
   - Simple: The bright shirt and cap a jockey wears to show which owner's horse they ride.
   - _Fans recognized the duke's horse by the crimson silks his jockey wore._
   - _The trainer laid out the silk colors registered to the owner before the meeting._
5. A pair of long fabric sheets suspended from above, on which a performer climbs and performs acrobatic tricks in the air.
   - Simple: A pair of long cloth sheets that hang from above, used by a performer to do tricks in the air.
   - _The aerialist wrapped herself in the silks and dropped headfirst toward the stage._
   - _Years of training go into a polished silk performance high above the crowd._
6. A barrister of senior rank, appointed as Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel, or Senior Counsel. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In Britain, a senior, top-ranking lawyer who argues cases in court.
   - _Only a handful of barristers take silk each year._
   - _The accused could not afford a silk and relied on a junior barrister instead._
7. The formal gown worn by a Senior Counsel, that is, a Queen's or King's Counsel.
   - Simple: The special gown worn by a top-ranking lawyer in court.
   - _The barrister's silk rustled as she rose to address the bench._
   - _He folded his silk and placed it in the robing-room locker._

## Verb

8. To remove the fine, hair-like threads from an ear of corn.
   - Simple: To pull the soft threads off an ear of corn.
   - _She shucked and silked the corn at the kitchen sink._
   - _Volunteers silk hundreds of ears before the county fair cookout._

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

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/silk (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).