# silt

> English word · Noun · IPA /sɪlt/ · frequency rank #30,585

## Definitions
1. Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
2. Any material with similar physical characteristics, regardless of its origins or transport.
3. A particle from 3.9 to 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *séh₂ls
From Middle English silte, cilte, cylte, perhaps from Middle English silen ("to filter; strain"; equivalent to sile + -t), or cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt (“salt marsh”), Middle Low German sulte (“salt-marsh”), German Sülze (“meat in aspic”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“salty water; brine”). Related to Old English sealt (“salt”).

## Easily confused with
- **SL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sl)
- **six** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-six)
- **sir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sir)
- **sit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sit)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sin)
- **SIM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sim)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sol)
- **sip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sip)
- **sis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sis)
- **sly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sly)
- **SQL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sql)
- **SNL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-snl)
- **SLR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-slr)
- **SMT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-smt)
- **Sul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sul)
- **Siu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-siu)
- **SLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-slc)
- **SLA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sla)
- **SPL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-spl)
- **sot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silt-vs-sot)

## Common misspellings (5)
`islt`, `sillt`, `siltt`, `sitl`, `ssilt`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/silt