linen
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (3)linens
- a fabric woven with fibers from the flax plantType of fabric, clothMade of flax
- a high-quality paper made of linen fibers or with a linen finishSynonyms: linen paperType of paper
- white goods or clothing made with linen clothType of white goods, household linenKinds bed linen, table linen, doily, bath linen
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE., fr. lin linen. See Linen, noun
1. Made of linen; as, linen cloth; a linen stocking.
2. Resembling linen cloth; white; pale.
Origin: Prop. an adj. from OE. lin flax, AS. līn flax, whence līnen made of flax; akin to OS., Icel., & MHG. līn flax and linen, G. lein, leinen, linen, Sw. lin flax, Goth. lein linen, L. linum flax, linen, Gr. λίνον. Cf. Line, Linseed.
1. Thread or cloth made of flax or (rarely) of hemp; — used in a general sense to include cambric, shirting, sheeting, towels, tablecloths, etc.; as, bed linens “In linen white as milk.” See Brunne.
2. Underclothing, esp. the shirt, as being, in former times, chiefly made of linen.
Linen draper, a dealer in linen. — Linen prover, a small microscope for counting the threads in a given space in linen fabrics. — Linen scroll, Linen pattern Architecture, an ornament for filling panels, copied from the folds of a piece of stuff symmetrically disposed.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54