ilk
‘same, family sort’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
E. ilke, ylke, ilc, ylca < O.E. ilca ‘the same’ < Proto-G. ij-lik < ij + lik < -lic < (demonstrative particle) i- < ilk < Tamil āṉ
Sematic Evolution: Once it was used as a straight synonym for same. For instance, the ilk means ‘the same, the identical, the very same (person, thing, etc., already mentioned, or specified in a following clause).’ Later in Scottish English, it was used in the phrase ‘of that ilk’ to express the notion that someone’s name was the same as that of the place he/she came from. It was later connected with the meaning ‘family,’ which led on to a general sense ‘type, sort,’ as in the phrase ‘of different ilk.’