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Silk is a Chinese word that means "silk".
O.E. sioloc, seoloc "silk," ultimately from an Asian word (cf. Chinesesi "silk," Manchurian sirghe, Mongolian sirkek) borrowed into Gk. asserikos "silken," serikon "silk" (cf. Gk. Seres, a name for an oriental people from whom the Greeks got silk). The use of -l- instead of -r-in the Balto-Slavic form of the word (cf. O.C.S. shelku, Lith. silkai) apparently passed into English via the Baltic trade and may reflect a Chinese dialectal form, or a Slavic alteration of the Gk. word. Also found in O.N. silki but not elsewhere in Gmc. Western cultivation began 552 C.E., when agents from Byzantium impersonating monks smuggled silkworms and mulberry leaves out of China. In ref to the "hair" of corn, c.1662, Amer.Eng. Silken is O.E. seolcen; silky is attested from 1611. Silkworm is O.E. seolcwyrm. Figurative use ofsilk-stocking (adj.) for "wealthy" is attested from 1798, Amer.Eng.Silk-screen is first attested 1930. - Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

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