linen

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English līnen (“linen", "made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līnīnaz (“made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līnan (“flax”), from Proto-Indo-European *līn- (“flax”). Cognate with Latin linum (“flax”). More at line.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɪnɪn/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

linen (countable and uncountable; plural linens)

1. (uncountable) Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.
2. (countable) Domestic textiles, such as tablecloths, bedding, towels, under clothes, 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.

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

   linen colour:

Translations

material

Arabic: كتان (ar) (kattān) m. Catalan: lli m. Czech: plátno (cs) n. Dutch: linnen (nl) n., doek (nl) n. Finnish: pellava (fi), liina (fi) French: toile (fr) f., lin (fr), linge (fr) German: Leinen (de) n. Hebrew: פשתן (pishtán) m. Hungarian: vászon (hu), lenvászon (hu) Italian: lino (it) m.

Japanese: 亜麻布 (amanuno) Latvian: lini (lv) pl. Norwegian: lin (no) Polish: płótno (pl) n. lniane (pl) Portuguese: linho (pt) m. Russian: полотно (ru) (polotnó) n., холст (ru) (χolst) m. Scottish Gaelic: anart m. Serbian: platno, prten Spanish: lino (es) m.

items

Arabic: شرشف (ar) (šaršaf) m. Finnish: liinavaate (fi) Japanese: リネン製品 (りねんせいひん, rinennseihinn) Latvian: veļa (lv) f.

Polish: bielizna (pl) f. Russian: бельё (ru) n. Scottish Gaelic: anart m. Spanish: ropa blanca f.

colour

Latvian: linkrāsa (lv) f.

Derived terms

Terms derived from linen

bedlinen dirty linen fair linen linenless linens linen basket

linen closet linen draper linen paper underlinen linoleum

See also

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

Anagrams

• Lenin

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Cornish

Noun

linen f. (plural linennow, linednow)

1. Singulative form of lin.
2. thread

Synonyms

• (thread): neusen/neujen