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Added 10 October 2026

silt

/sɪlt/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about silt at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
Any material with similar physical characteristics, regardless of its origins or transport.
A particle from 3.9 to 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

verb

To clog or fill with silt.
To become clogged with silt.
To flow through crevices; to percolate.

Origin

PIE word *sḗh₂l From Middle English silte, cilte, cylte, perhaps from Middle English silen ("to filter; strain"; equivalent to sile + -t), or cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt (“salt marsh”), Middle Low German sulte (“salt-marsh”), German Sülze (“meat in aspic”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“salty water; brine”). Related to Old English sealt (“salt”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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