linen

B2 Topic:Family & Relationships

US /ˈlɪnɪn/ See IPA manual

Freq #11757

Meanings

1

noun
A strong cloth or thread made from the flax plant.

He wore a cool linen shirt in the summer heat.
2

noun
Household items such as sheets, tablecloths, and towels.

She put the clean linens into the closet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms linens

Derived forms bedlinenlack-linenlinen-draperlinendraperlinenerlinenettelinenfoldlinenlesslinenlikelinenslinenylinish

Related forms flaxen fustian lingerie muslin

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”) and thus also Linum. More at line.

lynnen Middle English līnen Old English *līnīn Proto-West Germanic *līną Proto-Germanic *līno- Proto-Indo-European

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# linen

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɪnɪn/
**Frequency rank:** 11757

## Meanings
1. A strong cloth or thread made from the flax plant.
2. Household items such as sheets, tablecloths, and towels.

## Examples
- He wore a cool linen shirt in the summer heat.
- She put the clean linens into the closet.

## Derived Forms
- bedlinen
- lack-linen
- linen-draper
- linendraper
- linener
- linenette
- linenfold
- linenless
- linenlike
- linens
- lineny
- linish

## Related Forms
- flaxen
- fustian
- lingerie
- muslin

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lynnen
- Root: līnen
- Root: *līnīn
- Root: *līną
- Root: *līno-

## 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”) and thus also Linum. More at line.

## AI Etymology
Linen comes 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”) and thus also Linum. More at line. In present-day English its meanings include a strong cloth or thread made from the flax plant and household items such as sheets, tablecloths, and towels. The historical chain runs through lynnen (Middle English), līnen (Old English), *līnīn (Proto-West Germanic), *līną (Proto-Germanic), and *līno- (Proto-Indo-European). Related and derived forms include flaxen, fustian, lingerie, and bedlinen.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships

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linen

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