Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SILK-MAN, n. [silk and man.]

A dealer in silks. – Shak.

SILK'-MER-CER, n. [silk and mcrcer.]

A dealer in silks.

SILK'-WEAV-ER, n. [silk and weaver.]

One whose occupation is to weave silk stuffs. – Watts.

SILK'-WORM, n. [silk and worm.]

The worm which produces silk, the larve of a lepidopterous insect called the Bombyx Mori. Silk-worms are said to have been first introduced into the Roman empire from China, in the reign of Justinian.

SILK'Y, a.

1. Made of silk; consisting of silk.
2. Like silk; soft and smooth to the touch.
3. Pliant; yielding. Shak.

SILL, n. [Sax. syl, syle, syll; Fr. seuil; G. schwelle; W. sail, syl or seiler, foundation; seiliaw, to found; L. solum, allied to solid. The primary sense is probably to lay, sat, or throw down.]

1. Properly, the basis or foundation of a thing; appropriately, a piece of timber on which a building rests; the lowest timber of any structure; as, the sills of a house, of a bridge, of a loom, and the like.
2. The timber or stone at the foot of a door; the threshhold.
3. The timber or stone on which a window frame stands; the lowest piece in a window frame.
4. The shaft or thill of a carriage. [Local.] – Grose.

SIL'LA-BUB, n.

A liquor made by mixing wine or cider with milk, and thus forming a soft curd. – King.

SIL'LI-LY, adv. [from silly.]

In a silly manner; foolishly; without the exercise of good sense or judgment. – Dryden.

SIL'LI-MAN-ITE, n.

A mineral found at Saybrook in Connecticut, so named in honor of Prof. Silliman of Yale College. It occurs in long, slender, rhombic prisms, engaged in gneiss. Its color is dark gray and hair brown; luster shining upon the external planes, but brilliant and pseudo-. metallic upon those produced by cleavage in a direction parallel with the longer diagonal of the prism. Hardness about the same with quartz. Specific gravity, 3.410.

SIL'LI-NESS, n.

Weakness of understanding; want of sound sense or judgment; simplicity; harmless folly. – L'Estrange.

SIL'LOC, n.

A fish among the Shetland isles.

SIL'LY, a. [I have not found this word in any other language, but the Sax. asealcan signifies to be dull, inert, lazy. This corresponds with the Ar. كَسِلَ kasela, to be stupid, Heb. כסל. This may be radically the same word, with a prefix. Class Sl, No. 26.]

1. Weak in intellect; foolish; witless; destitute of ordinary strength of mind; simple; as, a silly man; a silly child.
2. Proceeding from want of understanding or common judgment; characterized by weakness or folly; unwise; as, silly thoughts; silly actions; a silly scheme; writings stupid or silly.
3. Weak; helpless. After long storms – / With which my silly bark was toss'd. [Obs.] – Spenser.

SIL'LY-HOW, n.

The membrane that covers the head of the fetus. [I believe not used.] – Brown.

SILT, n. [Sw. sylta, to pickle.]

1. Saltness, or salt marsh or mud. Fluviatile deposit of mud.
2. Comminuted sand, clay, and earth, which is transported by running water.

SILT, v.t.

To choke with mud.

SILT'ING, ppr.

Choking with mud.

SI-LURE, or SI-LU'RUS, n.

The sheat-fish; also, a name of the sturgeon. – Dict. Nat. Hist.

SI-LU'RI-AN, a.

A geological term applied by Murchison to the rocks of the country anciently inhabited by the Silures.

SIL'VA, n. [L.]

1. A collection of poems, written also Sylva.
2. The natural history of the forest trees of a country.

SIL'VAN, a. [L. silva, a wood or grove. It is also written sylvan.]

1. Pertaining to a wood or grove; inhabiting woods.
2. Woody; abounding with woods. Betwixt two rows of rocks, a silvan scene. – Dryden.

SIL'VAN, n.

Another name of tellurium. – Werner.

SIL'VER, a.

1. Made of silver; as, a silver cup.
2. White like silver; as, silver hair. – Shak. Others on silver lakes and rivers bath'd / Their downy breast. – Milton.
3. White or pale; of a pale luster; as, the silver moon.
4. Soft; as, a silver voice or sound. [Italian, suono argentino.] – Spenser. Shak.

SIL'VER, n. [Sax. seolfer, siluer; Goth. silubr; G. silber; D. zilver; Sw. silfver; Dan. sölv; Lapponic, sellowpe. Qu. Russ. serebro; r for l.]

1. A metal of a white color and lively brilliancy. It has neither taste nor smell; its specific gravity is 10.552, according to Bergman, but according to Kirwan it is less. A cubic foot weighs about 660 lbs. Its ductility is little inferior to that of gold. It is harder and more elastic than tin or gold, but less so than copper, platinum, or iron. It found native in thin plates or leaves, or in fine threads, or it is found mineralized by various substances. Great quantities of this metal are furnished by the mines of South America, and it is found in small quantities in Norway, Germany, Spain, the United States, &c. – Kirwan. Encyc.
2. Money; coin made of silver.
3. Any thing of soft splendor. Pallas – piteous of her plaintive cries, / In slumber clos'd her silver-streaming eyes. – Pope.

SIL'VER, v.t.

1. To cover superficially with a coat of silver; as, to silver a pin or a dial-plate.
2. To foliate; to cover with tinfoil amalgamated with quick-silver; as, to silver glass.
3. To adorn with mild luster; to make smooth and bright. And smiling calmness silver'd o'er the deep. – Pope.
4. To make hoary. His head was silver'd o'er with age. – Gay.

SIL'VER-BEAT-ER, n. [silver and beater.]

One that foliates silver, or forms it into a leaf.