• 純絹じゅんけん — pure silk
• 絹糸けんし — silk thread
• 絹雲けんうん — cirrus clouds (lit. “silk clouds”)
• 絹きぬ — silk

絹 uses the radical 糸 (thread) combined with the sound component 肙 (en/ken). This phonetic-semantic compound reflects silk as a refined thread. Silk was an essential luxury in historical Japan and China and played a key role in trade and cultural exchange.