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Historical & Current Events dictionary results for silk road

Silk Road

American  

[silk rohd] / ˈsɪlk ˈroʊd /

Sometimes Silk Route

noun

1. an ancient, 4,000-mile network of trade routes linking China with the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Roman Empire, and later revived during the Middle Ages: named for the lucrative trade in silk from China to the West.

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Etymology

Origin of Silk Road

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Upstart cargo airlines are forging what they call a modern silk road, connecting factory hubs in China to population centers across Europe, where Chinese immigrants get paid to store goods in spare rooms.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

China has also announced a new "digital silk road" focused on telecommunication and digital infrastructure.

From BBC • Oct. 16, 2023

Certainly, one that was more immediately relevant than the escapist party-in-the-desert parade of animal print, surplus, and the silk road at Etro, or the melee of striped knits and quasi-street at Missoni.

From New York Times • Feb. 27, 2022

Meanwhile Herat, an ancient silk road city, had been under siege for weeks before security forces retreated to army barracks.

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2021

The "silk road" here distends geographically and semantically to encompass any and all lands east of Western Europe.

From Time Magazine Archive

Related Words

• sea lane