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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.
Examples of ilk in a Sentence
Sam Amick, The Athletic, 16 Feb. 2025
The Trader Joe’s grocery chain is limiting egg sales to one dozen per customer, per day, nationwide.
Democrats should be excoriating Trump and his ilk.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 12 Feb. 2025
One of the first videos in this ilk was posted on TikTok back in November, by the creator Suzanne Lambert.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
This is the niche user group targeted by highly sophisticated spyware attacks, users that might receive one of Apple’s infamous alerts, U.S. campaign staffers allegedly compromised in the recent elections, others of that ilk.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Ilk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ilk. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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