▪ I. ilk, a.1 (pron.) Now Sc.
(ɪlk)
Forms: α. 1 ylca, illca, 1–3 ilca, (ilica), 2 ilc, 3–6 ilke, 4–5 ylk, 4–6 ylke, (6 elke), 3–6, 9 ilk. β. 2–4 ilche. γ. 4 ich, 4–5 iche.
[OE. ilca m., ilce f. and n., inflected as weak adj., app. f. the pronominal stem i-, ī- (cf. Goth. i-s he, Lat. i-s, ī-dem) + -l{iacu}c = Goth. -leiks (see like); cf. OE. hwelc, swelc which, such = Goth. hwileiks, swaleiks. As in such, which, etc., the k was in southern and midland ME. palatalized to ch; but the word survives only in the north.]
† 1. Same, identical; the (this, that) ilk, the same, the identical, the very same (person, thing, etc. already mentioned, or specified in a clause following). Freq. in statements of time, that ilk day, ilk night, ilk year, etc. Sometimes with addition of same, self. (See also thilk.) Obs.
| α 805–31 Charter in O.E. Texts 444 Of ðaem ilcan londe. a 1000 Andreas 752 (Gr.) Þis is se ilca ealwalda god. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1135 Þat ilc ȝær warth þe king ded. a 1250 Owl & Night. 99 Þat ilke best þat fuleþ his owe nest. a 1300 Cursor M. 1284 (Gött.) Seth went..To paradis þat ilke day [Trin. þe same day]. Ibid. 1918 Bi þat ilk same day. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 61 Þat ilk self ȝere. c 1400 Rom. Rose 1333 Ryght in that ilke same place. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 388/1 That the ylke god shold be blessyd. 1556 Lauder Tractate 49 At this ilke compt quhat salbe said To thame? |
| β c 1200 Vices & Virtues 23 Ðe ilche gode wille. 1258 Proclam. Hen. III, Al on þo ilche worden. 1340–70 Alisaunder 448 Þis cumlich Kyng þat ilche kith wynnes. |
| γ 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 4303 Þat ich while his lyoun Ȝede out of þe pauiloun. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 850 Y seighe it meself this ich day. c 1480 Kyng & Hermit 91 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 17 Send me grace this iche nyght. |
† 2. absol. the ilk, that ilk: a. The same person or persons. Also with same, self. Obs.
| a 1000 Boeth. Metr. ix. 24 Se ilca het ealle acwellan. a 1100 O.E. Chron. an. 1058 Se ylca sænde..pallium hider to lande. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 55 Wo þo ilche þat ben mihti to drinken. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1097 Þe ilke self is Godes sune. c 1340 Cursor M. 18141 Þis blisful kyng hit is þat iche [Laud MS. eche; Cott. MS. ilk]. a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 416 That ilk is she that pryvely Ne spareth never a wikked dede. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 323, I am, quod he, that ilke same, Which men Diogenes calle. |
† b. The same thing. with that ilke, in that ilke, at that very moment. Obs.
| c 755 O.E. Chron. an. 755 Hie cuædon þæt tæt ilce hiera ᵹeferum ᵹeboden wære. a 1300 Cursor M. 13451, I dar noght sai quere þis was þat ilk or nai. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 565 A whit kniht..Rydes to tholomer, rad wiþ þat ilke, Baar him doun of his hors. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Mathou 181 Þat Ilk suld þai haf done til ȝow. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. ii, Hir sadille semyde of þat ilke. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxii. 27 Sen as the world sayis þat ilk. a 1650 Robin Hood's Death 56 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 54 Downe she came in that ilke. |
3. of that ilk, of the same place, territorial designation, or name: chiefly in names of landed families, as Guthrie of that ilk, Wemyss of that ilk = Guthrie of Guthrie, Wemyss of Wemyss. Sc.
| 1473 in Acc. Ld. High Treasurer Scotl. I. 68 Gevin to the Justice Schire Dauid Guthere of that Ilk, knycht. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. xvii. vii. (1821) II. 509 Alexander Elphinstoun of that ilk. 1542 Lyndesay Heraldic Notes Wks. (E.E.T.S.) V. 609 Scot of Balwery.—Wemyss of that ilk.—Lwndy of that ilk. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 126 King James, the fyfte of that ilke. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxiv, Then they were Knockwinnocks of that Ilk. 1860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. civ. 12 A canon and two choristers sent from St. George's to the hospital of that ilk. |
¶ Erroneously, that ilk: That family, class, set, or ‘lot’. Also, by further extension, = kind, sort.
| 1790 J. Fisher Poems 155 Ilk ane a cap an' cloak o' silk Has got, as if she was a lady, An' that indeed, o' nae sma' ilk. 1845 Miall in Nonconf. V. 212 Mr. Hume, or Mr. Roebuck, or any member of that ilk. 1881 Annihilation 8 It has been left for our friend Dr. ― and that ilk, to discover the long mistake. 1881 J. A. Morgan Shakes. Myth. i. 36 Milton was the enemy of all the ilk. 1897 Evesham Jrnl. 23 June (E.D.D.), The horses most famous for marvellous exploits must have blood as well as bone, but only certain districts of the Green Isle can produce this ilk. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 29 June 3/2 Two very new hats of quite another ‘ilk’. Ibid. 6 July 3/2 A coat of this ‘ilk’ is quite another matter from the coat of the tailor costume. 1969 Times 8 May 8/6 This habit is confined to Tory backbenchers like..Rear-Admiral Morgan Giles and others of that ilk. 1973 E. McGirr Bardel's Murder ii. 42 One doesn't like or dislike a fellow of that ilk... He was a kind of barrow boy in a shop. |
▪ II. ilk, a.2 (pron.) Now Sc.
Also 4–5 ylke, 4–6 ilke.
[The northern and north-midland form of ilch, iche = southern ælch, æche, each: which see for the derivation and earlier history. After 1500 only in Sc., and now less usual than ilka.]
1. Followed immediately by a substantive: = each 1 a; every.
| c 825–1430 [see each A β]. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 413 Now schul we seye of ylke parti. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) Pref. 2 Thurgh whilk ilk man es saued. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 258/1 Iche, or ylke, quilibet. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiv. 214 In ilk cuntre. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 315 Thy elderis banis ilk nycht ryssis and rattillis. a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1829) 76 To raise 13s. 4d. out of ilk chalder of victual. 1767–95 Macneill Will & Jean iv, Tracing Will in ilk direction, Far frae Britain's fostering isle. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1842) 77 Ilk rugged mountain's curl. |
b. Phrases: ilk deal (contracted il del, ildell), every whit, completely. ilk-day's, every-day's, ordinary, usual (cf. ilka b). on ilk half, on every side, all round. (Cf. each 1 d.)
| c 1300 Havelok 818 Þe siluer he brouthe hom il del. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 29 [He] wan þe lond ilk dele. c 1350 Med. MS. in Archæol. XXX. 351 Gadir of y⊇ gres ildell. a 1400–50 Alexander 731 Vnbehalde þe wele on ilk halfe. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 80 Our ilk dayis ger. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. ix. 63 Sche has hir command done ilk deill. 1720 T. Boston Hum. Nat. Fourf. St. (1797) 317 He must take up his ilk-day's Cross. |
2. absol.; esp. in ilk other, each other (see each 5).
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1823–4 Ilk oþer pulled, ilk oþer schok, Wiþ fet in fourche ilk oþer tok. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 77 Ilk knew vthir well. Ibid. iv. 233 The vther sevin, ilk according to his power. |