what does "of that ilk" mean?

[David Dubh]

I hope someone can shed a little light on this for me, I was surfing the web and came accross a list of clan chiefs, the titles seemed fairly self evident. Afew were listed as
someone and such "of that ilk" to me it seems to be a disparaging remark about that person. So what exactly doe "of that ilk" mean especially when refering to a clan chief?

[Rex_Tremende]

My New Oxford American Dictionary states:

ilk |ilk|
noun [in sing. ]
a type of people or things similar to those already referred to : the veiled suggestions that reporters of his ilk seem to be so good at | fascists, racists, and others of that ilk.

• ( of that ilk) Scottish, chiefly archaic of the place or estate of the same name : Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk.

ORIGIN Old English ilca [same,] of Germanic origin; related to alike .

USAGE In modern use, ilk is used in phrases such as : of his ilk, of that ilk , to mean ‘type’ or ‘sort.’ The use arose out of a misunderstanding of the earlier, Scottish use in the phrase of that ilk, where it means ‘of the same name or place.’ For this reason, some traditionalists regard the modern use as incorrect. It is, however, the only common current use and is now part of standard English.

Regards,
Rex.

[thescot]

It's sort of, "of the same kind." It refers to a chief of a clan, such as Jean Moffat of that Ilk. It refers to the other chiefs of that name.

At least, that is my understanding.

[dfmacliam]

which I assume would be John MacHine of MacHine or listed as John MacHine "of that ilk"

[piperdbh]

which I assume would be John MacHine...

...which is the shortened form of John MacHinery.

But, seriously, folks, "of that Ilk" means he's chief of the name.

[Bugbear]

My New Oxford American Dictionary states:



Regards,
Rex.

AND I will point out, if it is now a noun in the American language, it can be twisted into verbs, adgetives and all sorts of other horrible things:
Ilked, ilky, ilkified, ilkological, ilkology, ilkography...
Example: Dude! That Pink Death kilt is totally ilk, man.
Example: In the early years of the twenty-first century, kilt wearers from around the world ilked together at XMTS.

[cessna152towser]

The phrase is commonly used in Scotland to refer to a person who takes his name from the place where he lives, ie rather than referring to Moncrieff of Moncrieff you might say Moncrieff of that ilk.

[SteveB]

Alex - Spot on.

This is the traditional use, and the one commonly used in genealogical, historical, and legal records from the very beginning of Alba.

Slainte

[skauwt]

yup Alex is spot on my ancestors where "The Chisholm's of that ilk "from the borders and none of them where chiefs just some lairds and craftmen so "of that ilk" isn't tied to down to chiefship

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

One of the idiosyncrasies of the compter age is that one so styled may occasionally receives letters addressed "Dear Mr. Ilk"...