linen

CEFRC1

/ˈlɪnɪn/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Cloth made from flax, often used for clothing or sheets.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A light beige colour, like that of linen cloth undyed.

Examples

  • Don't wash your dirty linen in public.

  • Let's not wash our dirty linen in public.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Domestic textiles, such as tablecloths, bedding, towels, underclothes, etc., that are made of linen or linen-like fabrics of cotton or other fibers; linens.

  2. Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Made from linen cloth or thread.

More examples

In context

  • She put the freshly cleaned linens into the linen closet.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

For the formal dinner, she used a white blank tablecloth on the table.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.