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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Linen comes from an Old English word of Germanic origin, ultimately related to Latin linum, "flax." Until the 19th century, linen and line could be used almost interchangeably, although line had long carried the specialized sense "thread spun from flax."

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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