linen

English

Etymology

From Middle English lynnen, lynen, from Old English līnen (“linen", "made of flax”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnīn (“made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”), equivalent to line +‎ -en. Cognate with Latin līnum (“flax”). More at line.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪnɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

linen (countable and uncountable, plural linens)

1. (uncountable) Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

2. (countable) Domestic textiles, such as tablecloths, bedding, towels, underclothes, etc., that are made of linen or linen-like fabrics of cotton or other fibers; linens.

   She put the freshly cleaned linens into the linen closet.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., , →OCLC:

     But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, […].

3. A light beige colour, like that of linen cloth undyed.

   linen:  

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

linen (not comparable)

1. Made from linen cloth or thread.
2. Having the colour linen, light beige.

See also

• fustian
• lingerie
• muslin
• flaxen
• Appendix:Colors

References

• linen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Lenin, linne

Cebuano

Etymology

From English linen, from Middle English lynnen, lynen, from Old English līnen (“linen", "made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līnīnaz (“made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”). Superseded lino.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: li‧nen

Noun

linen

1. linen; thread or cloth made from flax fiber

Adjective

linen

1. made from linen cloth or thread

Cornish

Noun

linen f (plural linennow or linednow)

1. singulative of lin
2. thread

Synonyms

• (thread): neusen/neujen

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

linen

Wikipedia ^id

Etymology

From Dutch linnen, from Middle Dutch linijn, from Proto-West Germanic *līnīn (“made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: li‧nên

Noun

linên (first-person possessive linenku, second-person possessive linenmu, third-person possessive linennya)

1. linen: a cloth made from flax.

Alternative forms

• lènan, linan
• linén (Standard Malay)

Further reading

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

Old English

Alternative forms

• līnin, līnnen, līnnin

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *līnīnaz, equivalent to līne +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliː.nen/

Adjective

līnen

1. (relational) linen

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: lynnen; lynen
  • English: linen
  • Scots: linin, linnin

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “línen”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.