# ilk
## English
### 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: /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

* kind
* likes
* sort
* type

#### Derived terms

* of that ilk
* thilk

#### Translations
### References

* “ilk” in The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2005
* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “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: [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
## 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: /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 *ilk (“first”). Cognate of Old Turkic 𐰃𐰠𐰚 (ilk, “first”), Karakhanid اِلْكْ (ilk, “first, firstly”), and Bashkir элек (elek, “before, earlier, ago”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ilc/
* 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