linn

See also: Linn and linn-

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɪn

Etymology 1

From Scottish Gaelic or Irish linn (“pool, pond”), conflated to some extent with linn (“waterfall”).

Noun

linn (plural linns)

A linn, the turbulent pond fed and formed by the falling waters of a cascade

This ravine in Taiwan meets the definition of a linn in the sense of a steep-walled ravine

1. (Scotland, Northern England, Wales) A pool of water, especially one formed and agitated by the water from a cascade.
   • 1812, “Poems”, in Forbes, section 49:

     There frisks the freckl'd finny tribe,
     In linns both wide and steep.

   • 1823, Galt, Gilhaize, section XXVIII:

     In the clear linn the trouts shuttled from stone and crevice.

   • 1868 September 24, James Hardy, addressed delivered at Chirnside, quoted in the History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, volume 5, page 386:

     The pool is there — the true linn, in the original acceptance of the word — dark and bottomless.

   • 1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, Prince Otto:

     A trellised path led down into the valley of the brook, and he turned to follow it. The stream was a breakneck, boiling Highland river. Hard by the farm, it leaped a little precipice in a thick grey-mare's tail of twisted filaments, and then lay and worked and bubbled in a linn. Into the middle of this quaking pool a rock protruded, shelving to a cape; and thither Otto scrambled and sat down to ponder.

   • 1894, Haliburton, Furth, 177:

     His successful angler landing the linn-lier [fish that inhabits a pool of water].

   • 1896, Crockett, Grey Man, vii:

     The running of deep water in a linn.

Alternative forms

• lin

Etymology 2

From Middle English *linne, from Old English hlynn (“torrent”), though this and linn (“pool”) have been somewhat conflated.

Noun

linn (plural linns)

1. (UK dialectal, especially Scotland, Northern England, Wales) A (small or large) waterfall or cataract (torrent of water running over a rocky bed), or a ravine down which such a waterfall rushes.
   • 1814, J. H. Craig [pseudonym; James Hogg], The Hunting of Badlewe: A Dramatic Tale, London: H[enry] Colburn; Edinburgh: G. Goldie, →OCLC, page 1; quoted in “The Hunting of Badlewe, a Dramatic Tale. 8vo. Edin. 1814. [From the Scottish Review.]”, in The Analectic Magazine, Containing Selections from Foreign Reviews and Magazines, together with Original Miscellaneous Compositions, volume V (New Series), Philadelphia, Pa.: Published and sold by Moses Thomas, […], May 1815, →OCLC, pages 353–354:

     What seek we here / Amid this waste where desolation scowls, / And the red torrent, brawling down the linn, / Sings everlasting discord?

   • 1844 December, “The Legend of Stumpie's Brae”, in The Dublin University Magazine, page 720:

     "For it's o'er the bank, and it's o'er the linn,
     "And it's up to the meadow ridge—"
     "Ay," quo' the Stumpie hirpling in,

   • 1866, John Harland, Lancashire Lyrics: Modern Songs & Ballads of the County Balatine, section 85:

     And the roaring of the linn.

   • 1896, Lewis Proudlock, The Borderland Muse, page 51:

     Hear! now, Yon linn's melodious thunder!

Alternative forms

• lin, lyn, lynn

East Central German

Etymology

From Middle High German linde, from Old High German lind, lindi, from Proto-West Germanic *linþ(ī), from Proto-Germanic *linþaz. Compare German lind.

Adjective

linn

1. (Erzgebirgisch) mild, gentle

References

2020 June 11, Hendrik Heidler, Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎^[1], 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 81:

Estonian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Finnic *litna. Compare Finnish linna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlinː/

Noun

linn (genitive linna, partitive linna)

1. city (large settlement)
2. (archaeology) fortified settlement

Declension

Declension of linn (ÕS type 22u/leib, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		linn	linnad
accusative	nom.
	gen.	linna
genitive			linnade
partitive		linna	linnu linnasid
illative		linna linnasse	linnadesse linnusse
inessive		linnas	linnades linnus
elative		linnast	linnadest linnust
allative		linnale	linnadele linnule
adessive		linnal	linnadel linnul
ablative		linnalt	linnadelt linnult
translative		linnaks	linnadeks linnuks
terminative		linnani	linnadeni
essive		linnana	linnadena
abessive		linnata	linnadeta
comitative		linnaga	linnadega

Derived terms

nouns

• aedlinn
• aolinn
• eeslinn
• emalinn
• kesklinn
• linnak
• linnake
• linnus
• maalinn
• muinaslinn
• pealinn
• ülikoolilinn

 

Further reading

• “linn”, in [PSV] Eesti keele põhisõnavara sõnastik [Dictionary of Estonian Basic Vocabulary] (in Estonian) (online version, not updated), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2014
• “linn”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “linn”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
• linn in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish lind (“pool, lake; sea, ocean”), from Proto-Celtic *lindos (“lake, liquid”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /lʲiːnʲ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /l̠ʲiːn̠ʲ/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /l̠ʲɪn̠ʲ/

Noun

linn f (genitive singular linne, nominative plural linnte)

1. pool, pond; body of water, lake, sea

Declension

Declension of linn

Second declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative linn linnte Vocative a linn a linnte Genitive linne linnte Dative linn linnte

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an linn na linnte Genitive na linne na linnte Dative leis an linn don linn leis na linnte

Derived terms

• linn chalaidh (“harbour creek”)
• linn éisc (“fish-pond”)
• linn lachan (“duck-pond”)
• linn mhuilinn (“mill-pond”)
• linn snámha (“swimming pool”)
• linn trá (“sandy creek”)
• linneach

 

Etymology 2

From Old Irish linn (“period, space of time”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /lʲiːnʲ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /l̠ʲiːn̠ʲ/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /l̠ʲɪn̠ʲ/

Noun

linn f (genitive singular linne)

1. space of time, period

Declension

Declension of linn

Second declension

Bare forms (no plural form of this noun) Case Singular Nominative linn Vocative a linn Genitive linne Dative linn

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Nominative an linn Genitive na linne Dative leis an linn don linn

Derived terms

• le linn (“during”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʲɪn̠ʲ/

Pronoun

linn (emphatic linne)

1. first-person plural of le: with us, to us

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “linn”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 linn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “3 linn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 43

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from Old Norse *linnr, from Proto-Germanic *linþaz. Related to linnorm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɪnː/

Adjective

linn (masculine and feminine lin, neuter lint, definite singular and plural linne, comparative linnare, indefinite superlative linnast, definite superlative linnaste)

1. weak

Synonyms

• svak

Further reading

• “linn” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈl͈ʲin͈ʲ/

Pronoun

linn

1. first-person plural of la
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 14^c2a

     Gigeste-si Día linn ara·fulsam ar fochidi.

     You pl will pray to God for us so that we may endure our sufferings.

   • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 207^b11

     Cit comṡuidigthi la Grécu ní écen dúnni beta comṡuidigthi linn.

     Although they are compounds in Greek (lit. “with the Greeks”), it is not necessary for us that they be compounds in our language (lit. “with us”).

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish linn (“period, space of time”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʎiːɲ/

Noun

linn m or f (genitive singular linn or linne, plural linntean)

1. era, age, period

   Linn Ùr ― New Age

   Linn an Umha ― Bronze Age

2. century

   san 20mh linn ― in the 20th century

3. generation (genealogy)

   bho linn gu linn ― from generation to generation

4. offspring, clutch

Synonyms

• (generation): ginealach, glùn

Derived terms

• Linn Ùr na Cloiche (“New Stone Age, Neolithic Period”)
• Na Linntean Dorcha (“Dark Ages”)
• Na Linntean Meadhanach (“Middle Ages”)
• ri linn (“during; because of; with regard to”)

 

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “linn”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[2], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “3 linn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language