I'm curious about the origin of using descriptors of one sense (e.g. sight) in order to describe a different sense (e.g. touch). (Please note that humans have more than five senses, as this may affect your answer.)
Using one sense to describe another is common enough in English, like "a honeyed voice" where a sound (voice) is described using taste, smell, touch, and sense of time (honeyed).
For example, "her sleep-silted eyes were intently trained on a book" the word "silted" is used to describe a girl's sleepy eyes. "Silted" is typically used to describe sight (defined as "to become filled or blocked with silt") but is instead used to describe a touch-feeling. A feeling where her eyes are clogged with sleep as if with silt.
Is this a case of using one sense (sight) to describe another (touch) or is this just an unusual descriptor? Is the idea of using one sense to describe another just a particular type of metaphor? Where did this kind of word usage come from and is it generally considered to be a good or a bad way to describe something?