līnum
Meaning
- flax
- linen cloth; garment made of linen
- rope, line, string, thread, cord, cable
- net for hunting or fishing
- wick of a lamp
- sail
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
rētia vēnātōrumherba ex quā vestis alba fitDeclension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | līnum | līna |
| genitive | līnī | līnōrum |
| dative | līnō | līnīs |
| accusative | līnum | līna |
| ablative | līnō | līnīs |
| vocative | līnum | līna |
reticulum, tenuissimo lino, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 11, § 27: urit lini campum seges, Verg. G. 1, 77; cf. Plin. 19 prooem. § 2; 19, 1, 1, § 9: lino legato tam factum quam infectum continetur, quodque netum quodque in tela est, Dig. 32, 70, 11.—consuto vulnere, crassum atque recens linum ostendit non una cicatrix, Juv. 3, 151.—Esp., the thread with which letters were bound and legal instruments sealed: effer cito stilum, ceram et tabellas et linum, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 4, 64: per ceram et linum litterasque interpretes salutem mittit, id. Ps. 1, 1, 40: linum incidimus, legimus, Cic. Cat. 3, 5.—Hence: solvere vincula epistolae, to open a letter, Nep. Paus. 4, 1: lino consignare tabulas, Paul. Sent. 5, 25, 6: easque tabulas proprio lino propriaque cera consignamus, Gai. Inst. 2, 181: linum ruptum, Quint. 12, 8, 13.—nunc in mole sedens moderabar arundine linum, Ov. M. 13, 923.—Massica Integrum perdunt lino vitiata saporem, strained through linen, Hor. S. 2, 4, 54; Ov. F. 5, 519: velati lino et verbena tempora cincti, Verg. A. 12, 120: lino vestiri aut lanis, Mel. 3, 7, 3.—subducere carbasa lino, Ov. F. 3, 587.—positarum lina plagarum, Ov. M. 7, 768: nec lina sequi nodosa sinebam, id. ib. 7, 807; 3, 153.—A fisher's net, drag-net, Verg. G. 1, 142; Ov. M. 13, 931.—Plur., Juv. 5, 102: cymbae linique magister, i. e. the fisherman, id. 4, 45; Sil. 7, 503.—fugit hasta per oras Multiplicis lini, Sil. 4, 292: tempora multiplici mos est defendere lino, id. 3, 272: thorax Multiplicis lini, id. 9, 587.—uno lino decies sestertium inseritur, Tert. Cult. Fem. 1, 9.—fumigans, Vulg. Isa. 42, 3; Tert. adv. Marc. 4, 23: ardens, id. adv. Jud. 9.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
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.
- Frenchlinfrom Old French lin
- Occitanlin
- Catalanllifrom Old Catalan lin
- Normanlînfrom Old French lin
- Portugueselinhofrom Old Galician-Portuguese lỹo
- Spanishlino
- Asturianllinu
- Asturianllino
- Asturianllin
- Asturianḷḷinu
- Galicianliñofrom Old Galician-Portuguese lỹo
- Englishlinoleum
- Englishlino
- Albanianli
- Esperantolino
- TranslingualLinum
- Sardinianlinu
- Romanianin
- Aromanianljin
- Aromanianljinu
- Megleno-Romanianľin
- Italianlino
- Neapolitanline
- Sicilianlinu
- Venetanlin
- Friulianlin