silver

See also: Silver

English

Etymology

From Middle English silver, selver, sulver, from Old English seolfor, seolofor (“silver”), from Proto-West Germanic *silubr, from Proto-Germanic *silubrą (“silver”), of uncertain origin.

cognates and etymology discussion

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Säälwer (“silver”), West Frisian sulver (“silver”), Dutch zilver (“silver”), German Low German Silver, Sülver (“silver”), German Silber (“silver”), Swedish silver (“silver”), Icelandic silfur (“silver”). The Germanic word has parallels in Baltic and Slavic (Old Church Slavonic сьрєбро (sĭrebro), Lithuanian sidabras), Celtic (Celtiberian silaPur-), and outside Indo-European, in Basque zilar and Proto-Berber *a-ẓrəf, but the ultimate origin of the word is unknown.

Adjective sense of twenty-fifth wedding anniversary generalized from silver wedding, from German Silberhochzeit, silberne Hochzeit.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪl.və/
(General American) enPR: sĭl'vər IPA^(key): /ˈsɪl.vɚ/
Rhymes: -ɪlvə(ɹ)
Hyphenation: sil‧ver
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

silver (countable and uncountable, plural silvers)

Chemical element
Ag
Previous: palladium (Pd)
Next: cadmium (Cd)

(uncountable) A lustrous, white, metallic element, atomic number 47, atomic weight 107.87, symbol Ag.
(collectively) Coins made from silver or any similar white metal.
- 1990, David F. Friedman, ‎Don DeNevi, A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-film King (page 136)
  […] maybe two or three twenties, a dozen tens, and twenty or thirty fins. The rest is all aces and silver.
(collectively) Cutlery and other eating utensils, whether silver or made from some other white metal.
(collectively) Any items made from silver or any other white metal.
(uncountable) A shiny gray color.
silver:
(countable) a silver medal
Anything resembling silver; something shiny and white.
- 1909 April 10, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “[The Time Machine and Other Stories]. The Beautiful Suit.”, in The Short Stories of H. G. Wells, London: Ernest Benn Limited […], published September 1927, OCLC 492455359, pages 162–163:
  And next morning they found him dead, with his neck broken, in the bottom of the stone pit, with his beautiful clothes a little bloody, and foul and stained with the duckweed from the pond. But his face was a face of such happiness that, had you seen it, you would have understood indeed how that he had died happy, never knowing that cool and streaming silver for the duckweed in the pond.

Synonyms

(metallic element): argyr-
(white-metal coins): argyr-
(cutlery and other eating utensils): silverware
E174 (when used as a food colouring)

Derived terms

silver alert
silver ash (Flindersia schottiana)
silver bass (Aplodinotus grunniens)
silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii)
silver bell (Halesia spp.)
silver bell tree, silver-bell tree, silverbell tree (Halesia)
silver berry, silverberry (Elaeagnus)
silverbill (Lonchura spp.)
silver birch (Betula pendula)
silver book
silverboom (Leucadendron argenteum)
Silver Bow
Silver Bow County
silver bromide
silver bullet
silver-bush, silverbush (Argythamnia, Convolvulus cneorum, Sophora tomentosa subsp. australis)
silver carp
silver ceiling
silver certificate
silver chloride
silver city
silver cord
Silver Creek
silver doctor
silver dollar
silver-eared mesia (Leiothrix argentauris)
silver eye, silver-eye, silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
silver feast
silver fern (Cyathea dealbata)
silverfin (Cyprinella whipplei)
silver fir (Abies spp;)
silverfish
silver fizz
silver fluoride
silver foil
silver-fork deformity
silver-fork fracture
silver fox (Vulpes vulpes form)
silver frost
silver-gilt
silver goose
silver grass (Miscanthus)
silver gray, silver-gray, silvergray, silver grey, silver-grey
silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis)
silver halide
silver iodate
silver iodide
silverish
silver jenny
silver jubilee
silver lace, silver-lace
silver lace vine, silver-lace vine (Fallopia baldschuanica)
silver leaf
silver-leaf nettle (Solanum elaeagnifolium)
silver-leaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium)
silver-leaf poplar (Populus alba)
silver-leaf tree (Leucadendron argenteum)
silver lime (Tilia tomentosa)
silver linden (Tilia tomentosa)
silver lining
silver maple (Acer saccharinum)
silver medal
silver medalist
silver mine
silver mound
silver nitrate
silver oak (Grevillea robusta, Brachylaena discolor)
silverol
silver paper
silver parachute
silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura, Bidyanus bidyanus, Leiopotherapon plumbeus)
silver pine (Manoao colensoi)
silver plate, silver-plate
Silver Plume
silver point
silver poplar (Populus alba)
silver protein
silver protein stain
silver quandong (Elaeocarpus kirtonii)
silver quandong tree (Elaeocarpus kirtonii)
silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana)
silver sage (Salvia argentea)
silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
silver salvia (Salvia argentea)
silver screen
silver skin, silver-skin
silver solder
silver spring
silver spruce (Picea engelmannii)
silver standard
silver star
silver star medal
silver state
silver storm
silver thatch
silver thaw
silver-tip
silver tree fern (Cyathea dealbata)
silver tree (Leucadendron argenteum)
silver trout (†Salvelinus agassizii)
silver vine (Actinidia polygama, Scindapsus pictus)
silver wattle (Acacia sclerosperma, Acacia dealbata, Acacia lasiocalyx, Acacia retinodes)
silver willow (Salix geyeriana)
silver-worker
silver wormwood (Artemisia cana)

Related terms

quicksilver
silver glance, silver-glance
silverling
silvern
thirty pieces of silver

Descendants

Jamaican Creole: silva
→ Maori: hiriwa
→ Zulu: isiliva

Translations

See silver/translations § Noun.

Adjective

silver (comparative more silver, superlative most silver)

Silver Roman artwork

Made from silver.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
  He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
- 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
  But Richmond […] appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.
Made from another white metal.
Having a color like silver: a shiny gray.
Denoting the twenty-fifth anniversary, especially of a wedding.
- 1994, “Mate matching” in Accent on Living, v 38, n 4 (Spring), p 52:
  Mostly, these have been relationships of 10 or less years. However, one respondent has celebrated her silver wedding anniversary.
(of commercial services) Premium, but inferior to gold.
Having the clear, musical tone of silver; soft and clear in sound.
a silver-voiced young girl

Synonyms

(made from silver): silvern (archaic)
(having a color like silver): silvery

Derived terms

antimonial silver
bismuth-silver
bromic silver
capillary silver
cat-silver
colloidal silver
dark red silver ore
desilver
desilverise, desilverize
every cloud has a silver lining
flat silver
German silver
horn silver
iodic silver
light red silver ore
Long John Silver
molybdic silver
native silver
nickel silver, nickel-silver
red silver
ruby silver
sheep-silver
shell silver
silver age
silver alum
silverback
silver ball
silver balli
silver band
silver bar
silver bath
silver-beater
silver beech (Lophozonia menziesii)
silver beet (chard, Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris)
silver-beggar
silver bell, silver bell tree
silver-belly
silver bennet
silver berry, silverberry (Elaeagnus spp.)
silverbill
silver birch (Betula pendula))
silver-black
silver blond, silver blonde
Silverblu, Silver Blu, Silver Blue
silver bream
silver bromide
silver bronze
silver buckle
silver bullet
silver certificate
silver chain
silver char
silver chickweed
silver chloride
silver collection
silver-colored, silver-coloured
silver-copper nitrate
silver cord
silver cord is loosed
Silver Creek
silver doctor
silver dollar
silver dollar fish (Metynnis spp. etc.)
silver-dun
silvered
silver eel (Ariosoma mellissii)
silverer
silverette
silver-eyes
silver-eye, silvereye
silver-feast
silver feather
silver fern
silver fir (Abies spp,)
silver fish, silver-fish, silverfish
silver-fizz
silver fluoride
silver foil
silver-footed
silver-fork
silver fox
silver frost
silver fulminate
silver garfish
silver gibbon
silver gilt, silver-gilt
silver glass
silver grain, silver-grain
silver grass, silver-grass
silver-gray, silver-grey
silver gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)
silver-haired
silver hair-grass
silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis)
silver halide
silver handshake
silver-head
silver-headed
silver herb
silver-hilted
silverily
silveriness
silvering
silver iodide
silver iodide
silverise, silverize
silverish
silverism
silverist
silverite
silver jubilee
silver king (Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus)
silver knapweed (Centaurea cineraria)
silver lady
Silver Lady
Silver Lake
silver lamprey
silver lavender
silver lead, silver-lead
silver-leaf
silver-leaved
silverless
silver-like
silver line, silver lines
silver lining
silver luster, silver lustre
silverly
silver maple
silver-marmoset
silver medal
silver medalist, silver medallist
silver mine
silver-mounted
silverness
silver nitrate
silver oak
silver oar
Silver Office
silver ore
silver oxide
silver paper
silver perch
silver pheasant
silver piece
silver pike (Esox lucius form)
silver pine, silver pine tree
silver plate
silver-plate
silver-plated
silver plover
silver-pointed
silver-point, silverpoint
silver polish
silver poplar (Populus alba)
silver-powder
silver print
silver-printing
silver rain
silver ring
silver rule
silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
silver sand
silver-scaled
silver screen
silver service
silver-shafted
Silver Shirts
silver-side, silverside
silver-sides, silversides (Atheriniformes)
silver-skin, silverskin
silversmith
silversmithing
silver solder
silver sole
silver spoon
silver-spoonism
silver-spot, silverspot
silver-sprig
silver standard
Silver Star, Silver Star medal
silver state
Silver State
silver steel
silver-stick
silver streak
silver string
silver sulfide, silver sulphide
silver surfer
silversword (Argyroxiphium)
silver table
silver-tailed
silvertail, silver-tail
silver tea (Leptospermum sericeum)
silver telluride
silver thaw
silver thistle
silver thread
silver-tip, silvertip
silver tongue
silver-tongued
silver top
silver tree (Leucadendron argenteum)
silver trout (Salvelinus agassizii)
silver trumpet
silver trumpeter
silver-voiced
silverware
silver-washed fritillary
silver wattle
silver wedding
silverweed
silver weight
silver whiskers
silver-white
silver-white cobalt
silver willow
silver wire, silver-wire
silverwood
silver-work
silver wreck
silvery
silver y, silver y moth
sterling silver
telluric silver
telluride of gold and silver
telluride of silver

Related terms

silver-feast
silver wedding

Translations

See silver/translations § Adjective.

Verb

silver (third-person singular simple present silvers, present participle silvering, simple past and past participle silvered)

To acquire a silvery colour.
- 1880 November 12, Lew[is] Wallace, chapter IV, in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 458843234, book sixth, page 416:
  Presently all the eastern sky began to silver and shine, and objects before invisible in the west—chiefly the tall towers on Mount Zion—emerged as from a shadowy depth, [...]
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Silverside”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326, page 281:
  But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat's-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, the trinity, earth and sky and water, became one thunderous symphony—a harmony of sound and colour silvered to a monochrome by the moon.
To cover with silver, or with a silvery metal.
to silver a pin; to silver a glass mirror plate with an amalgam of tin and mercury
To polish like silver; to impart a brightness to, like that of silver.
- 1725, Homer; [Alexander Pope], transl., “Book X”, in The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume III, London: […] Bernard Lintot, OCLC 8736646, lines 107–108, page 17:
  For here retir'd the ſinking billows ſleep, / And ſmiling calmneſs ſilver'd o'er the deep.
To make hoary, or white, like silver.
- 1727, [John] Gay, “Introduction to the Fables. The Shepherd and the Philosopher.”, in Fables, volume I, 2nd edition, London: […] J[acob] Tonson and J. Watts, published 1728, OCLC 1204997009:
  Remote from cities liv'd a Swain, / Unvex'd with all the cares of gain, / His head was ſilver'd o'er with age, / And long experience made him ſage; [...]

References

Anagrams

Elvirs, levirs, livers, livres, rivels, sliver, svirel

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German silber, from Old High German silbar, from Proto-West Germanic *silubr.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsilvɐ/

Adjective

silver

silvern

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch silver, from Proto-West Germanic *silubr.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈzɪlvər/

Noun

silver n

silver

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Dutch: zilver
- Afrikaans: silwer
- Negerhollands: silver, zelva, selvu
- Skepi Creole Dutch: solfer
- → Caribbean Javanese: silfer
- → Loup A: sinibat, chinebat, chinibat
- → Mahican: sehnpatt, senpett
- → Munsee: shulpul
- → Sranan Tongo: sorfu, solfru, sorfru
  - → Saramaccan: sólófu, sóófu
- → Unami: silpël
Limburgish: zèlver

Middle English

Alternative forms

selver, seolver, sulver, sylver

Etymology

From Old English seolfor, seolofor (“silver”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsilvər/, /ˈsɛlvər/

Noun

silver (plural silvers)

silver (metal)
- c. 1275, Judas (Roud 2964, Child Ballad 23, Trinity College MS. B.14.39)‎, folio 34, recto, lines 16-17; republished at Cambridge: Wren Digital Library (Trinity College), 29 May 2019:
  Sone ſo iudaſ of ſlepe waſ awake. / þritti platen of ſelu[er] from hym weren itake.
  As soon as Judas had awakened from his rest, / thirty pieces of silver had been taken from him.

Related terms

sylveren

Descendants

English: silver
- Jamaican Creole: silva
- → Maori: hiriwa
- → Zulu: isiliva
Scots: silver, siller

Old Swedish

Alternative forms

sylver, sølver

Etymology

From Old Norse silfr, from Proto-Germanic *silubrą.

Noun

silver n

silver

Declension

Declension of silver (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	silfr	silfrit	silfr	silfrin
accusative	silfr	silfrit	silfr	silfrin
dative	silfri, silfre	silfrinu, silfreno	silfrum, silfrom	silfrumin, silfromen
genitive	silfrs	silfrsins	silfra	silfranna

Descendants

Swedish: silver

Swedish

Chemical element
Ag
Previous: palladium (Pd)
Next: kadmium (Cd)

Etymology

From Old Swedish silver, from Old Norse silfr, from Proto-Germanic *silubrą.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsɪlvɛr/
Audio (file)

Noun

silver n (uncountable)

silver
silver, coins of silver
silver, cutlery of silver
a silver medal, for 2nd place in a competition

Declension

Declension of silver
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	silver	silvret	silver	silvren
Genitive	silvers	silvrets	silvers	silvrens

Derived terms

bordssilver
kvicksilver
kyrksilver
matsilver
nysilver
silverarmband
silverbeslag
silverbestick
silverblank
silverblänkande
silverbricka
silverbroderi
silverbrokad
silverbrons
silverbrudpar
silverbröllop
silverbägare
silverfasan
silverfat
silverfemma
silverfisk
silverflöjt
silverfärg
silverfärgad
silverföremål
silverglans
silverglittrande
silverglänsande
silvergran
silvergrogg
silvergruva
silvergrå
silverhalt
silverhår
silverhårig
silverkandelaber
silverkanna
silverkedja
silverklang
silverklar
silverklingande
silverklocka
silverkors
silverkrona
silverkrycka
silverlamé
silverljus
silverljusstake
silverlock
silverlockig
silvermalm
silvermedalj
silvermedaljör
silvermink
silvermoln
silvermynt
silvermärke
silverne
silvernitrat
silverpeng
silverpenning
silverpjäs
silverplakett
silverplats
silverpokal
silverpoppel
silverputs
silverram
silverring
silverrova
silverräv
silverservis
silverskatt
silversked
silverskimrande
silversko
silverskrin
silverskål
silverslant
silversmed
silversmide
silversmycke
silverstake
silverstrimma
silverstämpel
silverstänk
silvertacka
silvertallrik
silverte
silvertråd
silvertärna
silververk
silvervit
silvervitt
silverålder
silverört
silvra
silvrig

References

silver in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

silver

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

Adjective

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Verb

References

Further reading

Anagrams

Hunsrik

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Further reading

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Inflection

Descendants

Further reading

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Related terms

Descendants

Old Swedish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Descendants

Swedish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

References