Used for a great variety of purposes, as may be judged from the frequent references to it in Scripture. It first appears in commerce in Genesis 13:2; 23:15, 16. It was largely employed for making vessels for the sanctuary in the wilderness (Exodus 26:19; 27:17; Numbers 7:13, 19; 10:2). There is no record of its having been found in Syria or Palestine. It was brought in large quantities by foreign merchants from abroad, from Spain and India and other countries probably.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A soft white metallic element, sonorous, ductile, very malleable, and capable of a high degree of polish. It is found native, and also combined with sulfur, arsenic, antimony, chlorine, etc., in the minerals argentite, proustite, pyrargyrite, ceragyrite, etc. Silver is one of the noble metals, so-called, not being easily oxidized, and is used for coin, jewelry, plate, and a great variety of articles. Symbol Ag (Argentum). Atomic weight 107.7. Specific gravity 10.5.

2. (n.) Coin made of silver; silver money.

3. (n.) Anything having the luster or appearance of silver.

4. (n.) The color of silver.

5. (a.) of or pertaining to silver; made of silver; as, silver leaf; a silver cup.

6. (a.) Resembling silver.

7. (a.) Bright; resplendent; white.

8. (a.) Precious; costly.

9. (a.) Giving a clear, ringing sound soft and clear.

10. (a.) Sweet; gentle; peaceful.

11. (v. t.) To cover with silver; to give a silvery appearance to by applying a metal of a silvery color; as, to silver a pin; to silver a glass mirror plate with an amalgam of tin and mercury.

12. (v. t.) To polish like silver; to impart a brightness to, like that of silver.

13. (v. t.) To make hoary, or white, like silver.

14. (v. i.) To acquire a silvery color.