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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
Cal Newport, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
Here to talk about this crazy hard won turnaround, I'm now joined by Buddy Guindon, a commercial fisherman on the Texas Gulf Coast, and Scott Hickman, a charter fisherman who once saw Buddy and his ilk as ruthless competitors for ever more elusive fish.
—Dan Morrison, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Unsurprising to no one, Rowling and her ilk felt vindicated by the report, expressing their content across social media.
—Quispe López, Them., 30 Oct. 2025
But, yeah, the [cartel] tape with the formula for Walter White’s methamphetamine would be more useful to bad guys of any ilk.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 30 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ilk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ilk. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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