ilk

English

WOTD – 8 June 2006

Alternative forms

ilke

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English ilke, from Old English ilca, conjectured as from Proto-Germanic *ilīkaz, a compound of *iz and *-līkaz from the noun *līką (“body”).

The sense of “type”, “kind” is from the application of the phrase of that ilk to families: the word thus came to mean family.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪlk/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪlk

Adjective

ilk (not comparable)

(Scotland and Northern England) Very; same.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  By semblaunt, was that ilke image

Usage notes

Used following a person’s name to show that he lives in a place of the same name, eg Johnstone of that ilk means Johnstone of Johnstone.

Noun

ilk (plural ilks)

A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.
- 1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XXV, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:
  "Hinkydink” or “Bathhouse John,” or others of that ilk, were proprietors of the most notorious dives in Chicago […]
- 1931, Ogden Nash, The Cow:
  The cow is of the bovine ilk;
  One end is moo, the other, milk.
- 2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ' Sacha Baron Cohen's vital, venomous action movie'”, in The Daily Telegraph (London):
  On the surface, the film is a globe-trotting gross-out caper in which Nobby, who's from a hellish version of the titular Lincolnshire town ("twinned with Chernobyl"), is reunited with his long-lost brother Sebastian (Mark Strong), who has become a spy for the British secret services. That makes him a servant of the powers-that-be that have no time for Nobby and his scrounging ilk.

Usage notes

In modern use, ilk is used in phrases such as of his ilk, of that ilk, to mean ‘type’ or ‘sort.’ It often – though not necessarily – has negative connotations. The use arose out of a misunderstanding of the earlier, Scottish use in the phrase of that ilk, in which it means ‘of the same name or place.’ For this reason, some traditionalists regard the modern use as incorrect. It is, however, the only common current use.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

type, race, or category

German: Art (de) f, Geschlecht (de) n
Plautdietsch: Sort f
Portuguese: laia (pt) f
Spanish: tipo (es) m, índole (es) f, calaña (es) f, ralea (es) f, laya (es) f, jaez (es) m

References

“ilk” in The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2005
Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ilk”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

Kil

Azerbaijani

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *il(i)k (“before; early; first”). Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰃𐰠𐰚 (ilk, “first”), Karakhanid اِلْكْ (ilk, “first, firstly”), Turkish ilk, Chuvash ӗлӗк (ĕlĕk, “before, in old times; ago”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ilk]
Audio: (file)

Adjective

ilk (comparative daha ilk, superlative ən ilk)

first
ilk sevgi/məhəbbət ― first love

Noun

ilk (definite accusative ilki, plural ilklər)

firstborn, firstling

Declension

Declension of ilk
	singular	plural
nominative	ilk	ilklər
definite accusative	ilki	ilkləri
dative	ilkə	ilklərə
locative	ilkdə	ilklərdə
ablative	ilkdən	ilklərdən
definite genitive	ilkin	ilklərin

Possessive forms of ilk
	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	ilkim	ilklərim
sənin (“your”)	ilkin	ilklərin
onun (“his/her/its”)	ilki	ilkləri
bizim (“our”)	ilkimiz	ilklərimiz
sizin (“your”)	ilkiniz	ilkləriniz
onların (“their”)	ilki or ilkləri	ilkləri
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	ilkimi	ilklərimi
sənin (“your”)	ilkini	ilklərini
onun (“his/her/its”)	ilkini	ilklərini
bizim (“our”)	ilkimizi	ilklərimizi
sizin (“your”)	ilkinizi	ilklərinizi
onların (“their”)	ilkini or ilklərini	ilklərini
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	ilkimə	ilklərimə
sənin (“your”)	ilkinə	ilklərinə
onun (“his/her/its”)	ilkinə	ilklərinə
bizim (“our”)	ilkimizə	ilklərimizə
sizin (“your”)	ilkinizə	ilklərinizə
onların (“their”)	ilkinə or ilklərinə	ilklərinə
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	ilkimdə	ilklərimdə
sənin (“your”)	ilkində	ilklərində
onun (“his/her/its”)	ilkində	ilklərində
bizim (“our”)	ilkimizdə	ilklərimizdə
sizin (“your”)	ilkinizdə	ilklərinizdə
onların (“their”)	ilkində or ilklərində	ilklərində
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	ilkimdən	ilklərimdən
sənin (“your”)	ilkindən	ilklərindən
onun (“his/her/its”)	ilkindən	ilklərindən
bizim (“our”)	ilkimizdən	ilklərimizdən
sizin (“your”)	ilkinizdən	ilklərinizdən
onların (“their”)	ilkindən or ilklərindən	ilklərindən
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	ilkimin	ilklərimin
sənin (“your”)	ilkinin	ilklərinin
onun (“his/her/its”)	ilkinin	ilklərinin
bizim (“our”)	ilkimizin	ilklərimizin
sizin (“your”)	ilkinizin	ilklərinizin
onların (“their”)	ilkinin or ilklərinin	ilklərinin

Middle English

Determiner

ilk

(Northern) Alternative form of ech

Pronoun

ilk

(Northern) Alternative form of ech

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

ilk m (definite singular ilken, indefinite plural ilkar, definite plural ilkane)

alternative form of ilke

Scots

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪlk/

Etymology 1

From the Old English īlca, from Proto-Germanic *ilīkaz, a compound of *iz and *-līkaz from the noun *līką (“body”).

Cognate to English ilk.

Adjective

ilk (not comparable)

The same.

Usage notes

Used following a person’s name to show that he lives in a place of the same name, eg Johnstone of that ilk means Johnstone of Johnstone.

Etymology 2

From Middle English ilk, from Old English ġehwylc (“each, every”), equivalent to y- ‎ which. Merged with Northern Old English ylc (“each”). More at each. (compare the Dutch elk - each).

Determiner

ilk

(archaic, of two or more) each; every
- 1786, Robert Burns, A Winter Night:
  Ilk happing bird, - wee, helpless thing!
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

ilka

Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish الك (ilk, “first, firstly, in the first place”), from Proto-Turkic *il(i)k (“first”). Cognate of Old Turkic 𐰃𐰠𐰚 (ilk, “first”), Karakhanid اِلْكْ (ilk, “first, firstly”), and Bashkir элек (elek, “before, earlier, ago”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ilk/
Audio: (file)

Adjective

ilk

first
Synonyms: birinci, baştaki

Antonyms: son, sonuncu
pristine (pertaining to the earliest state of something)

Usage notes

ilk is different from birinci in the sense that it refers something that is the first of its kind or where things that come after the first one are not relevant. birinci implies the existence of a relevant order of things.

Adverb

ilk

first, firstly
Synonyms: önce, ilkin