Etymologically
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lineus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.ne.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.ne.us][1]

Forms

līneus (feminine līnea, neuter līneum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from līnum “flax” with the suffix -eus.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cato, whom he dates 234–149 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant made of flax or linen, and Virgil has līnea vincula “linen cords” and līnea terga, the linen lining of a shield.[2][4]

British Medieval Latin used it of fishing lines, linen cloth, garments and linen-lined armour.[5] The TLL notes that its neuter survives in Old French linge “linen”, and its feminine līnea “linen thread” became the word for a line, the source of English line.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of linen cords.[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of flax, linen.[2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com