Linen Meaning
/ˈlɪnɪn/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThread or cloth made from flax fiber.
nounDomestic textiles, such as tablecloths, bedding, towels, underclothes, etc., that are made of linen or linen-like fabrics of cotton or other fibers; linens.
Sentence Examples
Don't wash your dirty linen in public.
Let's not wash our dirty linen in public.
CEFR Practice Quiz
For the formal dinner, she used a white ____ tablecloth on the table.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The expensive white ____ tablecloth was covered with intricate embroidery and looked very elegant tonight.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English lynnen, lynen, from Old English līnen (“linen", "made of flax”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnīn (“made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”), equivalent to line + -en. Cognate with Latin līnum (“flax”) and thus also Linum. More at line.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook,[…]."
— 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
For the formal dinner, she used a white ____ tablecloth on the table.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The expensive white ____ tablecloth was covered with intricate embroidery and looked very elegant tonight.