line

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money

   he's not in my line of business

2. 2
   noun

   acting in conformity

   in line with

3. 3
   noun

   something (as a cord or rope) that is long and thin and flexible

   a washing line

4. 4
   noun

   a particular kind of product or merchandise

   a nice line of shoes

5. 5
   noun

   a pipe used to transport liquids or gases

   a pipeline runs from the wells to the seaport

6. 6
   noun

   a conceptual separation or distinction

   there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity

7. 7
   noun

   a short personal letter

   drop me a line when you get there

8. 8
   noun

   a mark that is long relative to its width

   The doctor drew a line on the chart.

Etymology

From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”). Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (“line”), from Latin linea. More at linen. The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.