silken
silk·en/ˈsɪlkən/adjective, verb
silken is spelled S-I-L-K-E-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (silk·en). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, silken means “Made of silk” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in silken?
| Letters | 6: S-I-L-K-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: silk·en |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,947th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is silken?
Silken appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce silken?
- /ˈsɪlkən/
Silken has 2 syllables, split silk·en in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-silken.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of silken
- silkens present, singular, he/she/it
- silkening participle, present
- silkened participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does silken mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Made of silk.
a silken veil
- 2
Having a smooth, soft, or light texture.
- 3
Suave.
- 4
Having a smooth, soft, or flowing utterance; attractive or (typically derogatory) convincing through pleasing expression.
- 5
Dressed in silk.
Last Saturday was three Weeks, at Two, in the Afternoon, I sent out my Servant, to watch a Couple of these Silken Strollers, and keep, if possible, within Ken of them.
verb
- 1
To render silken or silklike.
silkening body lotion
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Silken in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense made of silk:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | seiden |
| Spanish | de seda |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does silken come from?
From Middle English silken, selken, seolkene, from Old English seolcen, from seolc (“silk”) + -en, from an unattested early Proto-West Germanic borrowing from Latin sēricum, from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós, “silken”), from σήρ (sḗr, “silkworm”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”). Equivalent to silk + -en (“made of”). Cognate with Scots selkin, silkin (“silken”), Icelandic silki (“silken”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).