ilk

[ilk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ilk ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

family, class, or kind: he and all his ilk.

adjective

same.

Idioms

of that ilk,

(in Scotland) of the same family name or place: Ross of that ilk, i.e., Ross of Ross.
of the same class or kind.

Origin of ilk

before 900; Middle English ilke, Old English ilca (pronoun) the same, equivalent to demonstrative i (cognate with Gothic is he, Latin is that) + a reduced form of līc like¹; cf. which, such

ilk

[ilk]Chiefly Scot.

pronoun

each.

adjective

each; every.

Origin of ilk

before 900; Middle English ilk, north variant of ilch, Old English ylc (pronoun) each

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ilk

sort, set, classification, variety, gender, brand, denomination, class, order, race, kin, lot, persuasion, species

Examples from the Web for ilk

Contemporary Examples of ilk

We can thank Lisa Kudrow for the rise of celeb reality TV—Real Housewives, the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo and its ilk.
How Lisa Kudrow Pulled Off TV’s Ultimate ‘Comeback’
Kevin Fallon
November 6, 2014
Like maybe the line that Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others of their ilk are pushing?
Paranoia Crept into American Political Life a Long Time Ago
Lewis Beale
October 19, 2014
All right, so we know that Loestrin and its ilk are, as Redmond terms it, “hair-unfriendly pills.”
Birth Control Made My Hair Fall Out, and I’m Not the Only One
Molly Oswaks
October 14, 2014
And, as pretty much every show of this ilk has proved, that formula works.
Leg Throwing, Weave Pulling, and Drink Dumping: Watching 'Real Housewives' Makes You Violent
Charlotte Lytton
August 21, 2014
As much as the NRA and its ilk want to deny it, having a gun in the home is a risk factor for serious injury or death.
Pediatricians Have the Right to Ask About Guns
Russell Saunders
July 30, 2014

Historical Examples of ilk

Thus I get a perspective upon the place, to Will and his ilk denied.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
The collections, then, those from Mr. Young and his ilk excepted, were satisfactory.
Mary-'Gusta
Joseph C. Lincoln
Harpies of this ilk are the bane of sight-seeing all the world over.
The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol 2 (of 2)
Harry Furniss
You remember Mrs. Wallace, don't you—Pritchard, of that ilk?
The Hero
William Somerset Maugham
Him's got a bib on 'ike Trouble when him eats bread and 'ilk.
The Curlytops and Their Pets
Howard R. Garis

British Dictionary definitions for ilk

ilk

noun

a type; class; sort (esp in the phrase of that, his, her, etc, ilk)people of that ilk should not be allowed here

of that ilk Scot of the place of the same name: used to indicate that the person named is proprietor or laird of the place namedMoncrieff of that ilk

Word Origin for ilk

Old English ilca the same family, same kind; related to Gothic is he, Latin is, Old English gelīc like

usage

Although the use of ilk in the sense of sense 1 is sometimes condemned as being the result of a misunderstanding of the original Scottish expression of that ilk, it is nevertheless well established and generally acceptable

ilk

ilka (ˈɪlkə)

determiner

Scot each; every

Word Origin for ilk

Old English ǣlc each (+ a 1)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ilk

adj.

Old English ilca "same" (n. and adj.), from Proto-Germanic *ij-lik, in which the first element is from the PIE demonstrative particle *i- (see yon) and the second is that in Old English -lic "form" (see like). Of similar formation are which and such. Phrase of that ilk implies coincidence of name and estate, as in Lundie of Lundie; applied usually to families, so by c.1790 it began to be used with meaning "family," then broadening to "type, sort."