silky

Etymology

It is formed from English silk + -y.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Middle English had silki, in the phrase silki werk (“silken embroidery”),^[7][3] but the OED's record of the word begins in 1611.^[2] The noun goes back to Old English seoloc.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In silky werk, silk embroidery: about 1400, in the romance Emaré, where one manuscript may read sylkyn.^[7][3] The OED's first record is from 1611, in Cotgrave's dictionary, for "made of silk",^[2][5] and Etymonline dates that sense to the 1610s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From "made of silk" the word passed to things with the softness of silk (1666), the lustre of silk (1731) or its texture (1757).^[2][3] In 1740 it was used of liquor with a soft, delicate taste.^[2] Shakespeare's "silky ducking observants" in King Lear was quoted by Johnson (1755) for the sense "soft, pliant".^[8] The figurative sense of smooth, ingratiating speech and manners is recorded from 1778, and of people of a quiet, smooth manner from 1826;^[2] in the 20th century it was used of a machine running smoothly (1935).^[2] Botanists have used it since 1776 for leaves covered with fine, glossy hairs,^[2] and naturalists since 1781 in names of monkeys and birds;^[2] as a noun, a silky is a breed of fowl with soft, webless feathers.^[5][2] In Northumberland Silky was a sprite said to haunt houses, named from her silk robes.^[9][4]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – silky werk, silk embroidery.^[7]
• 1611 – made of silk.^[2][5]
• 1666 – soft like silk.^[2]
• 1731 – glossy like silk.^[2]
• 1740 – of liquor, soft and delicate in taste.^[2]
• 1776 – in botany, covered with fine, soft, glossy hairs.^[2]
• 1778 – of speech or manners, smooth and ingratiating.^[2]
• 1781 – in names of animals; noun, a silky fowl.^[2]
• 1935 – of a machine, running smoothly.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Soft, smooth and glossy like silk: silky hair.^[10][5][2]
2. Made of silk; silken.^[10][5][2]
3. Of a voice or manner: smooth and suave, often ingratiating.^[10][5][2]
4. Of a machine or its motion: running smoothly.^[2]
5. In botany, covered with long, fine, soft hairs: silky leaves.^[10][2][4]

Noun

1. A small domestic fowl of a breed with soft, fluffy feathers whose barbs do not form a web; also spelled silkie.^[5][2]
2. (dialect, Northumberland) A sprite said to haunt houses in the form of a woman in a silk dress.^[9][4]

Word family

• silkily
• silkiness

Related words

• silk
• silken

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins