lin

Forms

lin m (plural lins)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin līnum (“flax”), which named the plant and by metonymy the thread (especially a fishing line or a hunting net) and the cloth made from it.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary traces the Latin word through Proto-Italic *līnom to Proto-Indo-European *līnom, and the Germanic words such as Old English līne (“line, rope”) to Proto-Germanic *līną.^[1] Rey and the Petit Robert note similar words in many Indo-European languages, such as Ancient Greek λίνον (línon) and Russian лён (ljon), but think their relation cannot be settled without knowing the history of growing the plant;^[3][6] Wiktionary says the Greek and Russian words go back to a form with a short /i/.^[1]

Cognate with Italian lino, Spanish lino, Portuguese linho, Catalan lli and Occitan lin.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1155 Wace's Brut uses lin for the dried, flammable stalk; about 1180 Marie de France uses it for the plant grown for its fibre and for thread of it made into a net.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century the word named both the textile plant and the thread and cloth made of it (about 1180), as in chemise de lin.^[3][2] Its seed and oil gave huile de lin (1690) and graine de lin,^[8] and its colour the phrase gris de lin.^[8][6]

Several derivatives no longer feel related to it: linotte (13th century), the linnet, so named because it is fond of flax seed, gave tête de linotte “scatterbrain”, and linaigrette (1789), cotton grass, is named from its plumed spikes.^[3][9]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace's Brut uses lin for the dried stalk.^[2]
• c. 1180 – Marie de France uses it for the plant and its thread.^[2]
• 13th century – Filer lin “to spin flax” is recorded.^[2]
• 1228 – The derivative linière “flax field” is recorded.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records huile de lin.^[8]
• 1789 – Linaigrette is recorded.^[3][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Flax, a plant with blue flowers grown for the textile fibres of its stem and its oily seeds: huile de lin, graine de lin.^[6][10]
2. The fibre of this plant: fil de lin.^[6]
3. Linen, cloth woven from it.^[6][10][1]
4. Gris de lin: the metallic grey of flax tow.^[6]

Word family

• linière
• linot
• linaigrette
• linon

Related words

• ligne
• linge
• linotte
• linceul
• Latin līnum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 367b
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)