Trade, money & letters

silk

The Greeks called the silk-makers of the far east the Sēres, a name often traced to Chinese sī 'silk'; Latin sēricum travelled north, probably along Baltic trade routes, to become Old English seoloc, Old Norse silki and Russian shëlk — while in France it turned into serge, a twill cloth.

Weakest linkPossible

The road to English

From Latin to Old East Slavic, Russian

From Old East Slavic to Lithuanian

From Latin to Old Norse, Danish

From Latin to Old French, Middle English, English

1000 BCEOld Chinese

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.