silver

[sil-ver]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR silver ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Chemistry. a white, ductile metallic element, used for making mirrors, coins, ornaments, table utensils, photographic chemicals, conductors, etc. Symbol: Ag; atomic weight: 107.870; atomic number: 47; specific gravity: 10.5 at 20°C.

coin made of this metal; specie; money: a handful of silver.

this metal as a commodity or considered as a currency standard.

table articles made of or plated with silver, including flatware and hollowware.

any flatware: The kitchen silver is of stainless steel.

something resembling this metal in color, luster, etc.

a lustrous grayish white or whitish gray, or the color of the metal: the silver of the leaves.

any of the silver halides used for photographic purposes, as silver bromide, silver chloride, or silver iodide.

silver medal.

adjective

consisting of, made of, or plated with silver.

of or relating to silver.

producing or yielding silver.

resembling silver; silvery: the silver moon.

clear and soft: silver sounds.

eloquent; persuasive: a silver tongue.

urging the use of silver as a currency standard: silver economists.

indicating the twenty-fifth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.

having the color silver: a silver dress.

verb (used with object)

to coat with silver or some silverlike substance.

to give a silvery color to.

verb (used without object)

to become a silvery color.

Origin of silver

before 900; (noun and adj.) Middle English silver(e), selver(e), selfer, Old English siolfor (orig. noun); cognate with German Silber, Old Norse silfr, Gothic silubr, akin to Serbo-Croatian srèbro, Russian serebró, Lithuanian sidãbras; (v.) late Middle English silveren, derivative of the noun

Related formssil·ver·er, nounsil·ver·ish, adjectivesil·ver·less, adjectivesil·ver·like, adjectivesil·ver·ness, nounnon·sil·ver, noun, adjectivere·sil·ver, verb (used with object)

Silver

[sil-ver]

noun

Ab·ba Hillel

[ab-uh] /ˈæb ə/, 1893–1963, U.S. rabbi, born in Lithuania.

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

Related Words for silver

white, bright, silvery, sterling, pearly, pale, argent, plated, silvered, lustrous, resplendent

Examples from the Web for silver

Contemporary Examples of silver

Clad in a blue, striped button-down, a silver watch adorning his left wrist, Huckabee beams on the cover.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!
Olivia Nuzzi
January 8, 2015
These are dark times for network TV, but experiments like Galavant are the silver lining.
‘Galavant’: A Drunken, Horny Musical Fairy Tale
Melissa Leon
January 5, 2015
Her name was Courtney, and she was a fashion editor for magazines like Photoplay, Screenland, Silver Screen.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile
Robert Ward
January 3, 2015
No congratulations for those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths and then blame the poor for being poor.
Jesus Wasn’t Born Rich. Think About It.
Gene Robinson
December 25, 2014
Brinsley stepped up to the passenger side of the patrol car, raised a silver Taurus semi-automatic pistol and began firing.
'Please Don't Die!': The Frantic Battle to Save Murdered Cops
Michael Daly
December 22, 2014

Historical Examples of silver

The walls are hung with blue Florentine silk, embossed in silver.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
The writer further says the metal was made from silver coins.
The Story of the Invention of Steel Pens
Henry Bore
The walls were done in white with a faint blue and silver stripe.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
"He shall have four silver candlesticks," said the seneschal moodily.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
To save her cap she had taken it off, and early streaks of silver showed in her hair.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for silver

silver

noun

a very ductile malleable brilliant greyish-white element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal. It occurs free and in argentite and other ores: used in jewellery, tableware, coinage, electrical contacts, and in electroplating. Its compounds are used in photography. Symbol: Ag; atomic no: 47; atomic wt: 107.8682; valency: 1 or 2; relative density: 10.50; melting pt: 961.93°C; boiling pt: 2163°C
(as modifier)a silver coin Related adjective: argent

coin made of, or having the appearance of, this metal

cutlery, whether made of silver or not

any household articles made of silver

photog any of a number of silver compounds used either as photosensitive substances in emulsions or as sensitizers

a brilliant or light greyish-white colour
(as adjective)silver hair

short for silver medal

adjective

well-articulatedsilver speech

(prenominal) denoting the 25th in a series, esp an annual seriesa silver wedding anniversary

verb

(tr) to coat with silver or a silvery substanceto silver a spoon

to become or cause to become silvery in colour

to become or cause to become elderly

Derived Formssilverer, nounsilvering, noun

Word Origin for silver

Old English siolfor; related to Old Norse silfr, Gothic silubr, Old High German silabar, Old Slavonic sirebro

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 silver

Old English seolfor, Mercian sylfur "silver; money," from Proto-Germanic *silubra- (cf. Old Saxon silvbar, Old Frisian selover, Old Norse silfr, Middle Dutch silver, Dutch zilver, Old High German silabar, German silber "silver; money," Gothic silubr "silver"), from a common Germanic/Balto-Slavic term (cf. Old Church Slavonic s(u)rebo, Russian serebro, Polish srebro, Lithuanian sidabras "silver") of uncertain relationship and origin. According to Klein's sources, possibly from a language of Asia Minor, perhaps from Akkadian sarpu "silver," literally "refined silver," related to sarapu "to refine, smelt."

As an adjective from late Old English (cf. silvern). As a color name from late 15c. Of voices, words, etc., from 1520s in reference to the metal's pleasing resonance; silver-tongued is from 1590s. The silver age (1560s) was a phrase used by Greek and Roman poets. Chemical abbreviation Ag is from Latin argentum "silver," from the usual PIE word for the metal (see argent), which is missing in Germanic.

"to cover or plate with silver," mid-15c., from silver (n.). Meaning "to tinge with gray" (of hair) is from c.1600. Related: Silvered; silvering.

silver in Medicine

silver

[sĭl′vər]

n. Symbol Ag

A lustrous ductile malleable metallic element having the highest thermal and electrical conductivity of the metals and used in dental alloys and in pharmaceuticals. Atomic number 47.

silver in Science

silver

[sĭl′vər]

Ag

A soft, shiny, white metallic element that is found in many ores, especially together with copper, lead, and zinc. It conducts heat and electricity better than any other metal. Silver is used in photography and in making electrical circuits and conductors. Atomic number 47; atomic weight 107.868; melting point 960.8°C; boiling point 2,212°C; specific gravity 10.50; valence 1, 2. See also sterling silver. See Periodic Table. See Note at element.

Idioms and Phrases with silver

silver

In addition to the idiom beginning with silver

silver lining

also see:

born with a silver spoon
cross someone's palm with silver
hand to on a silver platter