lin·en

(lĭn′ən)

a. Thread made from fibers of the flax plant.

b. Cloth woven from this thread.

2. also linens Articles or garments, such as sheets, tablecloths, or underwear, formerly made of linen and now usually made of other fabrics, especially cotton.

3. Paper made from flax fibers or having a linenlike luster.

adj.

1. Made of flax or linen.

2. Resembling linen.

[Middle English, from Old English līnen, made of flax, from Germanic *līnin-, from *līnam, flax, probably from Latin līnum; see lī̆no- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

linen

(ˈlɪnɪn)

1. (Textiles)

a. a hard-wearing fabric woven from the spun fibres of flax

b. (as modifier): a linen tablecloth.

2. (Textiles) yarn or thread spun from flax fibre

3. (Textiles) clothes, sheets, tablecloths, etc, made from linen cloth or from a substitute such as cotton

4. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) See linen paper

[Old English linnen, ultimately from Latin līnum flax, line²]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lin•en

(ˈlɪn ən)

n.

1. fabric woven from flax yarns.

2. Often, linens. bedding, tablecloths, etc., made of linen cloth or a more common substitute, as cotton.

3. yarn or thread made from flax.

adj.

4. made of linen: a linen jacket.

Idioms:

wash or air one's dirty linen in public, to reveal one's secrets or shame to outsiders.

[before 900; Middle English lin(n)en (n., adj.), Old English linnen, līnen (adj.) made of flax =līn flax]

linen

sash - From Arabic shash, first a roll of silk, linen, or gauze worn about the head, a turban.
lingerie - Entered English meaning "linen articles collectively," from French linge, "linen."
linsey-woolsey - First a cloth woven from linen and wool, the phrase was altered for the sake of a jingling sound.
taffeta - Goes back to Persian taftah, "silken cloth, linen clothing."

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	linen - a fabric woven with fibers from the flax plant cloth, fabric, textile, material - artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the curtains was light and semitransparent"; "woven cloth originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured off enough material for a dress" flax - fiber of the flax plant that is made into thread and woven into linen fabric
	2.	linen - a high-quality paper made of linen fibers or with a linen finish linen paper paper - a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
	3.	linen - white goods or clothing made with linen cloth bath linen - linens for use in the bathroom bed linen - linen or cotton articles for a bed (as sheets and pillowcases) doily, doyley, doyly - a small round piece of linen placed under a dish or bowl napery, table linen - linens for the dining table household linen, white goods - drygoods for household use that are typically made of white cloth

Translations

شَراشِف كُتّانقِماش كَتّانكَتّاْنُ

lenlněnýplátnoprádlo

linned=-linnedhørhør-

Leinen Leinwand Wäsche Bettwäsche

λινό

lino ropa blanca hilo lienzo

pellava

lin linge

lan

lín, hör, léreftlín, tau; rúmfatnaîur

biancheria lino non lavare i panni sporchi in pubblico tela di lino biancheria intima

麻

리넨

lininis audinysužtiesalai

audekla-audeklslinaudeklslinu-veļa

полотно полотняный льняная ткань

ľanľanový

lan

linne

ผ้าลินิน

ketenketen beziketenden yapılmış

vải lanh

亚麻布亚麻织物

linen

[ˈlɪnɪn]

A. N

1. (= cloth) → lino m

2. (= household linen) → ropa f blanca; (= bed linen) → ropa f de cama; (= table linen) → mantelería f
clean linen → ropa f limpia
dirty linen → ropa f sucia or para lavar
to wash one's dirty linen in public (Brit) → sacar a relucir los trapos sucios

B. CPD → de lino
linen basket N → canasta f or cesto m de la ropa
linen closet, linen cupboard N → armario m para la ropa blanca

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

linen

[ˈlɪnɪn]

(= tablecloths, sheets, pillowcases) → linge m de maison
bed linen → linge de lit

(= cloth) → lin m

modif [jacket, suit, tablecloth] → en lin
a linen jacket → une veste en linlinen basket n → panier m à lingelinen closet linen cupboard n → armoire f à lingeline of attack n (= approach) → plan m d'actionline of communication n → ligne f de communicationline of fire n → ligne f de tirline of sight n

(= view) → champ m de vision

[gunman] → ligne f de mireline of vision n → champ m de visionline-out [ˈlaɪnaʊt] n (RUGBY) → touche f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

linen

n → Leinen nt; (= table linen) → Tischwäsche f; (= sheets, garments etc) → Wäsche f

adj → Leinen-; linen blouse → Leinenbluse f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

linen

[ˈlɪnɪn]

1. n (cloth) → (tela di) lino; (sheets, tablecloth) → biancheria
to wash one's dirty linen in public (fig) → lavare i panni sporchi in pubblico

2. adj (garment) → di lino; (basket, cupboard) → della biancheria

linen

(ˈlinin) noun

1. (also adjective) (of) cloth made of flax used to make sheets, tablecloths, tea-towels etc. This handkerchief is made of linen; linen sheets.

2. articles made of linen or, now more usually, cotton. table-linen; bed-linen.

linen

→ كَتّاْنُ plátno linned Leinen λινό lino pellava lin lan lino 麻 리넨 linnen lin płótno linho льняная ткань linne ผ้าลินิน keten vải lanh 亚麻布

linen

n. lienzo, lino;

bed ___ → ropa de cama.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

There was but one room below the attic which Maggie had left unsearched; it was the storeroom, where her mother kept all her linen and all the precious "best things" that were only unwrapped and brought out on special occasions.

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= to prepare flax for weaving as linen it is softened(technically, "retted") by soaking in water, separated from its woody fibers by beating ("scutched"--this seems to be what Cooper means by "crackling"), and finally combed ("hatcheled")}

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I lived to watch on a strange shore a black and youthful Nausicaa, with a joyous train of attendant maidens, carrying baskets of linen to a clear stream overhung by the heads of slender palm-trees.

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A week before the French had had boot leather and linen issued to them, which they had given out to the prisoners to make up into boots and shirts for them.

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Karnegie's report, after examining the linen which the so-called "Mrs.

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AN Ambitious Writer, distinguished for the condition of his linen, was travelling the high road to fame, when he met a Tramp.

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"This," says he, "is to my bankers, the British Linen Company, placing a credit to your name.

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Coming back from the doctor to whom Kitty had sent him, Levin, on opening the door, came upon the sick man at the instant when, by Kitty's directions, they were changing his linen. The long white ridge of his spine, with the huge, prominent shoulder blades and jutting ribs and vertebrae, was bare, and Marya Nikolaevna and the waiter were struggling with the sleeve of the night shirt, and could not get the long, limp arm into it.

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She went to a linen-draper's shop, took some coarse linen off the counter, and slipped it under her cloak; the shopman saw her, and she laid it down: for this she was hanged.

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The shepherd himself, though he had good reason to believe that the bag held nothing but flaxen thread, or else the long rolls of strong linen spun from that thread, was not quite sure that this trade of weaving, indispensable though it was, could be carried on entirely without the help of the Evil One.

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Moreover, you have five sons at home, two of them married, while the other three are good looking bachelors; you know they always like to have clean linen when they go to a dance, and I have been thinking about all this."

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I had a little plate, but not much, and was well enough stocked with clothes and linen.

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