silk
n. C / Un. a smooth, soft, and expensive cloth made from the thin threads of a silkworm. You often see it used for high-quality clothes like scarves or ties.
n. a fine, strong, lustrous fibre produced by silkworms to make cocoons, or the fabric woven from these threads. Often associated with luxury and high-end garment production.
She wore a beautiful dress made of pure silk.
The merchant imported high-quality silk from Asia to sell to the local fashion designers.
The delicate texture of the silk lining provides a sharp contrast to the heavy wool of the outer coat, demonstrating the designer's attention to tactile detail.
From Middle English silk, sylk, selk, selc, from Old English sioloc, seoloc, seolc (“silk”). The immediate source is uncertain; it probably reached English via the Baltic trade routes (cognates in Old Norse silki (> Danish silke, Swedish silke (“silk”)), Russian шёлк (šolk), obsolete Lithuanian zilkai̇̃), all ultimately from Late Latin sēricus, from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós), ultimately from an Oriental language (represented now by e.g. Chinese 絲 /丝 (sī, “silk”)). Compare Seres. Doublet of seric and serge.
Uncountable when referring to the material in general; countable when referring to specific types or varieties of the fabric.