Etymologically
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silky

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Pronunciation

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

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