different between silky vs diaphanous

English

Etymology

From Middle English sylky, equivalent to silk +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?lki/
• Rhymes: -?lki

Adjective

silky (comparative silkier, superlative silkiest)

1. Similar in appearance or texture (especially in softness and smoothness) to silk.

   cloth with a silky lustre

   silky hair

2. Smooth and pleasant; seductive.

   a silky wine

   a silky voice

   silky skills

3. (botany) Covered in long, slender, glistening hairs pressed close to the surface; sericeous.

Derived terms

• silky oak
• silky soft

Translations

Noun

silky (plural silkies)

1. Alternative spelling of silkie

References

• silky in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “silky” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)

Anagrams

• Kisly

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin diaphanus, from Ancient Greek ???????? (diaphan?s) ('To appear/shine through '; 'dia' - through + 'phaino' - to appear).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da??æf.?n.?s/

Adjective

diaphanous (comparative more diaphanous, superlative most diaphanous)

1. Transparent or translucent; allowing light to pass through; capable of being seen through.
   • 2004, Gustave Flaubert, Margaret Maulden (translator), Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners, page 98,

     The evening mist, drifting among the leafless poplars, veiled their silhouettes with a violet film, paler and more translucent than the most diaphanous gauze that might have caught in their branches.

2. Of a fine, almost transparent, texture; gossamer; light and insubstantial.
   • 1951, Robert Frost, Unpublished preface to a collection, 2007, Mark Richardson (editor), The Collected Prose of Robert Frost, page 169,

     The most diaphanous wings carry a burden of pollen from flower to flower.

   • 1963, Hermann Weyl, quoted in 1985, Floyd Merrell, Deconstruction Reframed, page 67,

     What is amazing is that "a concept that is created by mind itself, the sequence of integers, the simplest and most diaphanous thing for the constructive mind, assumes a similar aspect of obscurity and deficiency when viewed from the axiomatic angle" (Weyl, 1963, 220).

3. (physics) Isorefractive, having an identical refractive index.

Synonyms

• (allowing light to pass through): translucent, transparent, see-through, sheer
• (of a fine, almost transparent, texture): delicate, insubstantial, sheer

Antonyms

• (transparent or translucent): opaque
• (of a fine, almost transparent, texture): concrete, solid

Related terms

• diaphanously
• diaphanousness

Translations