Silver Definition

sĭlvər

silvered, silvering, silvers

noun

A soft, white, metallic chemical element that is extremely ductile and malleable, an excellent reflector of light, and the best metallic conductor of heat and electricity: it is a precious metal and is used in the manufacture of coins, jewelry, alloys, etc.: symbol, Ag; at. no. 47

Webster's New World

This metallic element as a commodity or medium of exchange.

American Heritage

Silver coin.

Webster's New World

Money; riches; wealth.

Webster's New World

A medal made of silver awarded to one placing second in a competition, as in the Olympics.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

pronoun

A female given name from the metal.

Wiktionary

An English surname for a silversmith or a rich man, or for someone having silvery gray hair or living by a silvery brook.

Wiktionary

A surname anglicised from the German Jewish ornamental surname Silber.

Wiktionary

A male given name from the metal, or transferred from the surname.

Wiktionary

adjective

Made of, containing, or plated with silver.

Silver thread.

Webster's New World

Of, based on, or having to do with silver.

The silver standard.

Webster's New World

Of a lustrous medium gray.

Silver hair.

American Heritage

Having the color or luster of silver; silvery.

Webster's New World

Of or advocating the adoption of silver as a standard of currency.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

verb

silvered, silvering, silvers

To cover or coat with silver or something like silver.

Webster's New World

To make silvery in color.

Hair silvered with age.

Webster's New World

To become silvery in color.

Webster's New World

To coat (photographic paper) with a film of silver nitrate or other silver salt.

American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Silver

Noun

Singular:

silver

Plural:

silvers

Origin of Silver

From Middle English silver, selver, sulver, from Old English seolfor, seolofor (“silver"), from Proto-Germanic *silubrÄ… (“silver"), from Proto-Indo-European *silubÊ°r-, *silebÊ°r- (“silver"). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Selwer (“silver"), West Frisian sulver (“silver"), Dutch zilver (“silver"), Low German Silver, Sülver (“silver"), German Silber (“silver"), Swedish silver (“silver"), Icelandic silfur (“silver"). The Germanic word has parallels in Baltic and Slavic (OCS sirebo, Lithuanian sidabras), Celtic (Celtiberian silaPur-), and outside Indo-European, in Basque (zilar, zilhar and further dialectal variants) and perhaps Berber (Tashelhit aẓrf), but the ultimate origin of the word is unknown. A Wanderwort of ultimately Semitic origin has been suggested (Akkadian sarpu "refined silver", from the verb sarapu "to refine").

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English siolfor, seolfor probably ultimately from Akkadian ṭarpu refined silver verbal adj. of ṭarāpu to smelt, refine ṭrp in Semitic roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Adjective sense of twenty-fifth wedding anniversary generalized from silver wedding, from German Silberhochzeit, silberne Hochzeit.

From Wiktionary