linear

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linear

Wikipedia

From Latin līneāris, from līnea (“line”) + -āris (adjectival suffix), equivalent to line +‎ -ar. Doublet of lineal.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪn.i.ɚ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪn.i.ə/

linear (comparative more linear, superlative most linear)

1. Having the form of a line; straight or roughly straight; following a direct course.
   • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:

     The route taken does not have to be a perfectly straight line, just so long as it is linear and is followed consistently for each transect taken.

2. Of or relating to lines.
3. Made, or designed to be used, in a step-by-step, sequential manner.

   a linear medium

4. (botany, of leaves) Long and narrow, with nearly parallel sides.
5. (mathematics) (of polynomials or polynomial equations)
   1. (of a polynomial) Having degree one; that is, being of the form ${\displaystyle a_{1}x_{1}+a_{2}x_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}x_{n}+b}$, where each ${\displaystyle x_{i}}$ is a variable. See also Linear polynomials on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

      ${\displaystyle 4x+5y+{\frac {1}{2}}z}$ is a linear polynomial, but ${\displaystyle 4xy+{\frac {1}{2}}z}$ and ${\displaystyle 4x+z^{2}}$ are not.

   2. (of a polynomial equation) Involving only linear polynomials. See also Linear equation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

      The graph of the linear equation ${\displaystyle y=ax+b}$ is a straight line with slope ${\displaystyle a}$ and y-intercept ${\displaystyle b}$

6. (mathematics) (of functions or maps)
   1. (of a function between vector spaces) An additive, homogeneous mapping; that is, a function ${\displaystyle f:V\to W}$ is linear if it distributes over vector addition (${\displaystyle f(\mathbf {v} +\mathbf {w} )=f(\mathbf {v} )+f(\mathbf {w} )}$) and respects scalar multiplication (${\displaystyle f(c\mathbf {v} )=cf(\mathbf {v} )}$). If ${\displaystyle V}$ and ${\displaystyle W}$ are vector spaces over a field ${\displaystyle K}$, ${\displaystyle f}$ may also be called a ${\displaystyle K}$-linear map. See also linear map on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

      The map ${\displaystyle f:\mathbb {R} ^{3}\to \mathbb {R} ^{2}}$ taking ${\displaystyle (x,y,z)\mapsto (x+y+z,x-y+3z)}$ is a linear map.

   2. (of a function over a module) A module homomorphism; that is, a group homomorphism that commutes with scalar multiplication. See also Module homomorphism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
7. (physics) A type of length measurement involving only one spatial dimension (as opposed to area or volume).

   a linear meter

• linelike

• nonlinear

• (pertaining to length): areal, spacial, spatial
• (one-dimensional unit): cubic, square

linear (plural linears)

1. (radio slang) Ellipsis of linear amplifier.

• linear on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “linear”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “linear”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• Arline, Erlian, Irelan, Lanier, aliner, enrail, lanier, larine, nailer, renail

Borrowed from Latin līneāris.

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

linear m or f (masculine and feminine plural linears)

1. linear

   Synonym: lineal

• línia

• “linear” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “linear”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “linear” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “linear” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Internationalism, borrowed from Dutch lineair (“linear”), from French linéaire, from Latin līneāris.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /liˈnɛar/
• Rhymes: -ar, -r
• Hyphenation: li‧nè‧ar

linèar

1. alternative spelling of linièr (“linear”)

• “linear” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Learned borrowing from Latin līneāris.

• Hyphenation: li‧ne‧ar

linear m or f (plural lineares)

1. linear (having the form of a straight line)
2. (mathematics) linear (being a first-degree polynomial)
3. linear (made in a step-by-step, logical manner)

• linha

• “linear”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

linear m or n (feminine singular lineară, masculine plural lineari, feminine and neuter plural lineare)

1. Alternative form of liniar

• IPA^(key): /lineˈaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: li‧ne‧ar

From Latin lineāris.

linear m or f (masculine and feminine plural lineares)

1. (botany) linear

From Latin lineāre.

linear (first-person singular present lineo, first-person singular preterite lineé, past participle lineado)

1. to line
2. to outline, mark out

• “linear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10