Type, kind, or class of something; used especially when referring to a person's character or the nature of something.
From Old English 'ilca' meaning 'same,' derived from Old Germanic roots. It originally meant 'same' but evolved to mean 'similar kind.'
When we say 'people of that ilk,' we're using an ancient word whose roots meant 'same'—it's a subtle way to group things by similarity, showing how judgments hide inside supposedly neutral categories.
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