From Middle English lynnen, lynen, from Old English līnen, from Proto-West Germanic *līnīn, from Proto-Germanic *līną, from Proto-Indo-European *līno-, equivalent to line + -en.

• IPA: /ˈlɪnɪn/

linen

1. (uncountable) Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:

     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.

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

   She put the freshly cleaned linens into the linen closet.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →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, […].

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

    

• French: toile, lin, linge
• German: Leinen
• Italian: lino
• Portuguese: linho
• Russian: полотно́
• Spanish: lino, linge

• French: linge
• German: Heimtextilien
• Portuguese: roupa
• Russian: бельё
• Spanish: ropa blanca

• Spanish: linocros

linen (not comparable)

1. Made from linen cloth or thread.
2. Having the colour linen, light beige.

1. Surname.