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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
Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 17 Aug. 2025
And the second is that the cap is set to explode to a point where $12.6 million is a modest sum for a player of MacKinnon’s ilk.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 29 July 2025
Having a teammate of Jake’s ilk could help Sorbello in her quest to claim her third victory, as this competition is fierce.
—Nick Caruso, TVLine, 28 July 2025
But no team needs a player of this ilk, someone who can get a bucket off the bounce or even occasionally create for a teammate, quite like the Nets do.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 30 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ilk
Cite this Entry
“Ilk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ilk. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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