Where does “silt” come from?

Silt comes from Middle English silte, from Middle English silen, from Old French siller, from Old French cil, from Latin cilium meaning eyelash, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱel- meaning to conceal or hide.

silt (English): Mud or fine earth deposited from running or...

Definitions

  1. Mud or fine earth deposited from running or...

Ancestry of “silt”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishsilte—
2Proto-Germanicsultijōsalty water; saltwater; brine; a saltmarsh
3Proto-Indo-Europeansal-dirty, grey; dirt, dirty; grayish, impure gray

Words derived from “silt”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sal- →Every word from Proto-Germanic sultijō →Every word from Middle English silte →