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linge

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Etymology and origin of the French word linge

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1100–1125 first French translation of Marbode's Lapidary More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin lineus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin līnum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin līnum
French lin
Italian lino
Spanish lino
Latin līneus
French linge
From the same root
Latin linteus ← līnum
French lingerie ← līneus
Latin līnea ← līneus

Pronunciation

Forms

linge m (plural linges)[1] The Old French adjective linge “of linen” (linge drap) was used from the early 12th century to the 16th; the feminine lingee is found in the 14th.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French linge (“of linen, of cloth”), an adjective used as a noun, inherited from Latin līneus (“of linen”), formed from līnum (“flax, linen”).[2][3][4][1][5] Its history matches that of lange, a noun likewise made from an adjective of material meaning woollen.[2][3][4] As an adjective it also meant fine, as fine as linen, a sense kept in some dialects.[4] Littré derives the noun from Latin linteum (“linen cloth”).[6]

Cognate with Romanian ie (“woman's shirt”) and Occitan linge.[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the first French translation of Marbode's Lapidary (first quarter of the 12th century) it means a linen cloth or a piece of cloth.[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

It soon meant any piece of cloth, and by metonymy a shirt (first half of the 13th century), a sense lost by the classical period.[2][3] Collectively it came to cover underwear and the light detachable parts of clothing;[3] this survives in linge de corps (Académie, 1798) and in phrases such as Voltaire's laver son linge sale en famille “to settle quarrels in private”.[2][3] Household linen is recorded in 1549, linge de table in 1688,[2] and a cloth for wiping or rubbing in 1570.[2]

At first in slang, linge fin (1808) and then beau linge (1835) were said of elegant people,[3] and avoir du linge meant “to be well dressed”.[3][9] In Switzerland linge is a towel.[10][1]

Timeline

  • 1100–1125 – The adjective and the noun in the first French translation of Marbode's Lapidary.[2]
  • First half of the 13th century – “Shirt” in the Enfances Guillaume.[2]
  • 1292 – First record of lingère.[4]
  • 1549 – Table linen.[2]
  • 1570 – A cloth for wiping, in Estienne and Liébault's Maison rustique.[2]
  • 1798 – The Académie records linge de corps.[2][3]
  • 1808 – Linge fin of elegant people, in slang.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Household linen: the cloth items used for the bed, the table, the bathroom and the kitchen: linge de maison, linge de table.[11][12][10]
  2. Linge de corps, or simply le linge: underwear.[11][2]
  3. Laundry, clothes to be washed or ironed: étendre le linge.[12][1]
  4. A piece of cloth: essuyer la table avec un linge humide.[10][2]
  5. (Switzerland) A towel.[10][1]
  6. Du beau linge (familiar): smart, well-known people.[10][3]
  7. Blanc comme un linge: deathly pale.[10][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 357a
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Linge.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/linge. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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