linear English · revision 7673

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1642|origins=la linea}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlɪn.i.ə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈlɪn.i.əɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|linearis|alt=lineāris|t=belonging to a line]], perhaps through French [[m|fr|linéaire]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|linea|t=string, line]] (see [[line]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of or in lines: 1642, in Henry More's ''A Platonical Song of the Soul'';^(Barnhart 1988) 1656 in the OED and MWU.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart notes that linear and [[lineal]] are of the same origin: in Latin lineāris the suffix -ālis was dissimilated to -āris, but in Late Latin the rule was no longer active and the form in -ālis stayed.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Extended in a line, and in mathematics of the first degree, is from 1706.^(OED 1989) Involving the use of lines is from 1840,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and Linear A and Linear B, two Minoan scripts found in Crete by Arthur Evans, were named in 1902–03, in contrast to pictographic writing.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In education, step-by-step programmed learning is from 1958.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1642 – of lines.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1706 – extended in a line; in mathematics.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1840 – involving lines.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1902–03 – Linear A and B.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, relating to or resembling a [[line]]; straight.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Having only one [[dimension]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # In art, using drawn lines rather than colour and light.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(education)'' Of programmed learning, proceeding step by step.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[linearly]]

+ * [[linearity]]

+ * [[curvilinear]]

+ * [[interlineal]]

+ * [[interlinear]]

+ * [[lineal]]

+ * [[bilinear]]

+ * [[colinear]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[line]]

+ * [[lineage]]

+ * [[delineate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}