line English · revision 2150

− {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited, borrowing|attested=before 900 (Solomon and Saturn)|origins=la līnum}}

− It is a Middle English merger of two words of the same origin:^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) [[inh|ang|līne|t=rope, cord; row, series]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) probably an early Germanic borrowing from Latin,^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) and [[m|enm|ligne]] (about 1225, in King Horn), [[bor|fro|ligne|t=guideline, cord; lineage]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Both come from [[la|līnea|t=linen thread, string, plumb line]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) short for [[m|la|līnea restis|t=linen cord]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the feminine of [[m|la|līneus|t=of linen, of flax]], from [[m|la|līnum|t=flax, linen]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) The Old English word has cognates in [[nl|lijn]], [[goh|līna]] (modern [[de|Leine|t=cord]]) and [[non|lína]].^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) The verb “to put a lining in” is a separate word, from the obsolete line “flax, linen”, [[ang|līn]], from the same Latin noun, because linen was much used for linings.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)

− By 1425 almost all the ordinary modern senses had been recorded.^(Barnhart 1988) From the builder's cord came “a thread-like mark” and “track, course, direction” in the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and a line of descent (''a line of kings'') is also late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The mathematical sense “length without breadth” is from the 1550s, as is “people or things in a row”,^(Etymonline) now considered American English, where British English says ''queue'', though the sense appears first in British writers.^(Etymonline) A crease in the face or palm is a ''line'' from the 1530s, the equator from the 1580s, and a boundary from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) The sense “occupation, branch of business” (1630s) comes, according to the OED, from a misunderstood verse of the King James Bible (2 Corinthians 10:16, “another man's line”).^(Etymonline) The verb “to cover the inside of” is late 14th century, found about 1387 in Chaucer,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and “to fill plentifully” (''line one's pockets'') dates from the 1510s.^(Etymonline) A ''liner'' was a ship from 1829, an aircraft from 1905 and a cosmetic for the eyes from 1926.^(Barnhart 1988)

− * late 14th century – a mark, a course, and a line of descent.^(Etymonline)

− * c. 1387 – verb, to line a garment (Chaucer).^(Barnhart 1988)

− * before 1398 – verb, to tie with a cord.^(Barnhart 1988)

− * mid-15th century – verb, to mark with lines.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

− * 1510s – verb, to fill the inside of.^(Etymonline)

− * 1550s – length without breadth, and a row of people or things.^(Etymonline)

− * 1926 – ''liner'', an eye cosmetic.^(Barnhart 1988)

− # A row of people or things; a queue.^(Etymonline)

− # A line of descent; [[lineage]].^(Etymonline)

− # One's occupation or field: ''what's your line?''^(Etymonline)

− # To place in a row; form a border along: ''crowds lined the streets''.^(AHD)

− # To cover the inside of: ''line a coat with silk''.^(AHD)

− * [[linable]]

− * [[lineless]]

− * [[linelike]]

− * [[underline]]

− * [[line out]]

− * [[line up]]