linum

See also: Linum and línum

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *līnom, likely from Proto-Indo-European *līnom.

Cognates include Old English līne (“line, rope, cord”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌽 (lein) and other derivatives of Proto-Germanic *līną, although Pokorny proposed it is a borrowing from Latin.

Although Greek λίνον (línon), Lithuanian linas, Russian лён (ljon) are sometimes listed as cognates, they actually derive from *lino- with a short /i/.

Celtic and Albanian words for linen probably derive from Latin, although Celtic languages retained possibly related cloth terms with a short /i/ (see *linnā).

Considering also the existence of a Latin root with a short /i/ and a /t/ (linteum), reconstruction of a common PIE protoform is impossible, and no similarly sounding terms are attested outside of Europe.

If such roots were borrowed from one or several non-IE languages, as proposed by Machek, locating the source is impossible because cultivation of linen was ubiquitous in the region since the Neolithic.

Alternatively, Fick proposed derivation as a passive past participle from Proto-Indo-European *lei- (“to flow, pour”) because flax is soaked in water during its retting.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈliː.num/, [ˈlʲiːnʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.num/, [ˈliːnum]

Noun

līnum n (genitive līnī); second declension

1. flax
2. linen cloth; garment made of linen
3. rope, line, string, thread, cord, cable
4. net for hunting or fishing
5. wick of a lamp
6. sail

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	līnum	līna
Genitive	līnī	līnōrum
Dative	līnō	līnīs
Accusative	līnum	līna
Ablative	līnō	līnīs
Vocative	līnum	līna

Synonyms

• (rope, cord): chorda, cōpula, fūnis, mītra, restis, retināculum, rudēns

Derived terms

• linoides
• linteum
• linteus
• līnea
• līneus
• līnifer
• līnificus
• līniger
• līnārius

 

Related terms

Related terms

• līneālis
• līneāmentum
• līneāris
• līneārius

• līneātiō
• līneō
• līneola

• linteāmen
• linteārius
• linteātus

• linteō
• linteolum
• linteolus

Descendants

• → Albanian: li
• Aromanian: ljin, ljinu
• Asturian: llinu, ḷḷinu
• Catalan: lli
• → English: linoleum, lino
• French: lin
• Friulian: lin
• Galician: liño
• Italian: lino
• Norman: lîn
• Occitan: lin
• Portuguese: linho
• Romanian: in
• Sardinian: linu
• Sicilian: linu
• Spanish: lino
• Translingual: Linum
• Venetian: lin

References

• “linum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “linum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• linum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• linum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to open a letter: epistulam solvere, aperire, resignare (of Romans also linum incīdere)
    
• “linum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “līnum”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 344

---

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liˈnum/

Noun

linum (nominative plural linums)

1. flax

Declension

declension of linum

	singular	plural
nominative	linum	linums
genitive	linuma	linumas
dative	linume	linumes
accusative	linumi	linumis
vocative 1	o linum!	o linums!
predicative 2	linumu	linumus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only