linea Latin · revision 7575

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la līnum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.ne.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.ne.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''līnea''' ''f'' (genitive līneae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the feminine of [[līneus]] “of flax”, from [[līnum]] “flax”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) It is also spelled ⟨līnia⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Isidore says it is so called because it is made of flax.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a string.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a linen thread, string, as in Plautus and Varro, a fishing line in Seneca, and in Ulpian and Martial a string of pearls, a necklace.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) From Cato it meant the cord of builders and surveyors, a plumb line, and ''ad līneam'' or ''rēctā līneā'' “in a straight line”.^(OLD 2012) From Cicero it meant a line drawn with a pen, in Pliny the Elder an outline or the hour line of a sundial, in Livy a streak of colour, and in Varro a line in geometry.^(OLD 2012) In Seneca it meant a boundary line, in Ovid a rope marking off seats in the theatre, and in Horace the finishing line.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant linen, a line or thread.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for a line of kinship, a lineage, a line of writing, and an era, and for a linen shirt or alb.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian ''linea'', French ''ligne'' and Portuguese ''linha'', and with Old English ''line'' it gave [[en|line]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a string.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a builder's line.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in geometry.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a drawn line.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A string, cord; a fishing line; a necklace.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A builder's line, [[m|en|plumb line]], ''ad līneam'', in a straight line.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A drawn [[m|en|line]]; an outline.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A streak.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(geometry)'' A line; an alignment.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A boundary; the finishing line.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|lineage]]; a line of writing.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[līneālis]]

+ * [[līneāmentum]]

+ * [[līneāris]]

+ * [[līneārius]]

+ * [[līneō]]

+ * [[līneola]]

+ * [[directilineus]]

+ * [[rēctilīneus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[līneātiō]]

+ * [[līneus]]

+ * [[līnum]]

+ * [[en|line]]

+ * [[en|linear]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}