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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
Max Goldbart, Deadline, 11 July 2025
Agnes is socially competent, even charismatic, but beset by neuroses that seem genuinely frustrating to her, not the self-satisfied post-Woody Allen solipsism common to auteurs of this ilk.
—Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 27 June 2025
Only when they were caught were faces put to those nicknames: Gary Ridgway, Keith Jesperson, Randall Woodfield, and their ilk became subjects of widespread fascination and horror.
—Sarah Weinman, The Atlantic, 18 June 2025
My Fair Library First, the good news for Anthropic and its ilk.
—Douglas B. Laney, Forbes.com, 29 June 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 15 Jul. 2025.
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