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The noun ilk comes from the Old English pronoun ilca by way of a pronoun ilk that is still in use, but not in most modern English dialects. That ilk is synonymous with same, and persists chiefly in Scotland where it's used in the phrase "of that ilk," meaning "of the same place, territorial designation, or name." It is generally used in reference to the names of land-owning families and their eponymous estates, as in "the Grants of that ilk," which means "the Grants of Grant." In the late 1700s, the Scots phrase extended to mean "of that kind or sort," a usage that found its way into modern English.
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Examples of ilk in a Sentence
Fran Tirado, Them, 20 Dec. 2024
Newsweek found five other gun stores across the United States of this ilk that had acquired new licenses after having voluntarily given them up.
—Tim Ryan, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024
Theaters obliged by dropping the latter; and stars such as Joseph Grimaldi and his slapstick ilk gradually moved over to circus entertainment, where clown work fit right in.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 18 Dec. 2024
The story of that one, based on the eponymous book series by Cressida Cowell, centers on a sensitive young Viking who befriends one of the winged beasts his ilk have naturally opposed for years.
—Michael Savio, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Ilk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ilk. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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