ilk

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*ilīkaz
2. Old English · derived fromilca
3. Middle English · inherited fromilke
4. English todayilk

Inherited from Middle English ilke, from Old English ilca, conjectured as from Proto-Germanic *ilīkaz, a compound of *iz and *-līkaz from the noun *līką (“body”). The sense of “type”, “kind” is from the application of the phrase of that ilk to families: the word thus came to mean family.