linen

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A strong cloth or thread made from the flax plant.

   He wore a cool linen shirt in the summer heat.

2. 2
   noun

   Household items such as sheets, tablecloths, and towels.

   She put the clean linens into the closet.

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.

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