WORD OF THE DAY: ILK
noun | ILK
What It Means
Ilk is a noun that means “sort” or “kind.” It is usually used in short phrases with and or of, as in “and that ilk” and “of their ilk.”
// The hole beneath the stairs of the cabin’s porch allows in squirrels, woodchucks, and other creatures of that ilk.
Examples of ILK
“When they weren’t working, Oak Ridgers found plenty to keep them occupied. … There were sports teams, clubs of every ilk, bowling alleys, and dances most nights of the week.” — Denise Kiernan, Rolling Stone, 17 July 2023
Did You Know?
The noun ilk comes from the Old English pronoun ilca by way of a pronoun ilk that is still in use, but not in most modern English dialects. That ilk is synonymous with same, and persists chiefly in Scotland where it’s used in the phrase “of that ilk,” meaning “of the same place, territorial designation, or name.” It is generally used in reference to the names of land-owning families and their eponymous estates, as in “the Grants of that ilk,” which means “the Grants of Grant.” In the late 1700s, the Scots phrase extended to mean “of that kind or sort,” a usage that found its way into modern English.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
