English
line
Line comes from Middle English line ‘rope, cord’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *līną ‘flax, linen’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līną‘flax’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līnǭ‘line’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līnā‘line’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150līne‘line’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500line‘rope’
- Englishearliest quotation 1598same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līną‘flax’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līnǭ‘line’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līnā‘line’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150līne‘line’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500line‘rope’
- Englishearliest quotation 1598same form
Earliest quotation: 1598, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “All the pictures fairest lined Are but black to…”
The story
Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (‘line’), from Latin linea. The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.
Linked words
through Proto-West Germanic *līnā ‘line, chord, rope, string’
Another origin of line
- Koreanmodern라인rain‘members with a shared characteristic’
- Englishtodayline
Likely generalized via hyung line, maknae line, etc.
Another origin of line
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*līno-‘flax’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līną‘flax, linen’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līnǭ‘line, rope, flaxen cord, thread’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līnā‘line, chord, rope, string’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150līn‘flax, linen, cloth’
- Englishtodayline
For more information, see the entry linen.
Today it means
noun A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *līną / line