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Historical & Current Events dictionary results for silk road
Synonyms

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.


Etymology

Origin of Silk Road

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Liverpool lads travelled the fastest overall from Palermo in sunny Sicily, Italy, to the snow-covered Hatgal in northern Mongolia - via the ancient Silk Road.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

Indeed, history is filled with examples of this, from the medieval Black Death hitchhiking along the Silk Road to the “Russian flu” pandemic of the late 19th century that was accelerated by trains and steamships.

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2026

Beijing is pursuing what it calls a Polar Silk Road.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 7, 2026

But, on the Silk Road for centuries, it is attempting to revive its historic role as a trading hub.

From Barron's • Nov. 6, 2025

Malcolm went home with a book about symbolic pictures, because what Dr. Relf had told him about the alethiometer had intrigued him greatly, and a book called The Silk Road.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

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