Interlingua Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Wikipedia

File:Broom icon.svg A user suggests that this Entry should be cleaned up, giving the reason: “some definitions should be merged, similar senses grouped; the translations should sync with the senses”.
Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup(+) for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.
See also Line

English[]

Most common English words: act « la « further « #483: line » added » toward » feeling

Etymology[]

Middle English line from Old English līne "line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction" from Proto-Germanic *līnon, līnion (line, rope, flaxen cord, thread) from Proto-Germanic *līnan (flax, linen) from Proto-Indo-European *līn- (flax). Akin to Old High German līna "line" (Template:Deu Leine "rope"), Template:Dum līne "rope, cord" (Template:Nld lijn "rope"), Old Norse līna "cord, rope" (Template:Dan line "rope, cord"), Old English līn "flax, linen, cloth", Template:Ofs līn "flax, linen", Old Saxon līn "flax, linen", Template:Dum līn "flax" (Template:Nld lijn "flax"), Old High German līn "flax, linen" (Template:Deu Lein "flax, linen"), Gothic lein "linen, cloth", Latin linea "linen, thread, string, line", linum "flax, thread, linen, cable", Ancient Greek λίνον (línon) "flax, linen, thread, garment", Template:Cu linŭ "flax", Template:Lit linai "flax", Irish līn, lion "flax". Influenced in Middle English by French ligne "line" from Latin linea.

Pronunciation[]

Noun[]

Singular
Line

Plural
s

Line (s)

Template:Rfex

  1. A rope, cord, string, or thread; a slender, strong cord, or a cord of any thickness; a hawser.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls. — Piers Plowman
    fishing line, anchor line, clothesline, towline
  2. A path through two or more points (see also segment), a continuous mark, including as made by a pen, pencil, or graver; any path.
    • 1816: Percy Shelley, The Daemon of the World
      The atmosphere in flaming sparkles flew; / And where the burning wheels / Eddied above the mountain’s loftiest peak / Was traced a line of lightning.
    a chalk line was drawn around the body
    The arrow descended in a curved line.
    The place is remote from lines of travel.
  3. Template:Geometry An infinitely extending one-dimensional figure that has no curvature; one that has length but not breadth or thickness.
  4. (geometry, informal) A line segment; a continuous finite segment of such a figure.
  5. A written or printed row of letters, words, numbers, or other text, especially a row of words extending across a page or column
    The answer to the comprehension question can be found in the third line of the accompanying text.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): In the preceding line Ulysses speaks of Nausicaa. — Broome
    1. by extension, a verse (in poetry)
    • 1609: Shakespeare, Sonnet 71
      Nay if you read this line, remember not, / The hand that writ it.
    1. by extension; such a line as read aloud:
    2. (screenplay, theatre) a sentence of dialogue, as in a screenplay. Template:Defdate
    (A date for this quote is being sought): It’s a small part, I have twelve lines in the movie. — Geneveve Bujold in Earthquake
  6. The official, stated position (or set of positions) of an individual or group, particularly a political or religious faction. Template:Defdate
    Remember, your answers must match the party line.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): Their line is gone out through all the earth. — Ps. xix. 4
  7. A letter, a written form of communication.
    Drop me a line.
  8. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, a telephone or internet cable between two points: a telephone or network connection.
    I tried to make a call, but the line was dead.
    a dedicated line
    a shared line
    Please speak up, the line is very faint.
  9. A more-or-less straight sequence of people, objects, etc., either arranged as a queue or column and often waiting to be processed or dealt with, or arranged abreast of one another in a row (and contrasted with a column), as in a military formation. Template:Defdate
    File:Hohenfriedeberg.Attack.of.Prussian.Infantry.1745.jpg

    Painting of Prussian Infantry attacking in lines during the Battle of Hohenfriedberg.

    The line forms on the right.
    There is a line of houses.
    • 1817: Percy Shelley, The Revolt of Islam
      A band of brothers gathering round me, made, / Although unarmed, a steadfast front, [...] now the line / Of war extended, to our rallying cry / As myriads flocked in love and brotherhood to die.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): Unite thy forces and attack their lines. — Dryden
  10. Template:Military The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc.
  11. (military) A trench or rampart, or the non-physical demarcation of the extent of the territory occupied by specified armed forces.
    • 1917, John Masefield, The Old Front Line
      This description of the old front line, as it was when the Battle of the Somme began, may some day be of use. [...] It is hoped that this description of the line will be followed by an account of our people's share in the battle.
  12. The products or services sold by a business, or by extension, the business itself. Template:Defdate
    line of business, product line
    How many buses does the line have?
    The airline is in danger of bankruptcy.
    A ship of the line.
  13. (fencing, ‘line of engagement’) The position in which the fencers hold their swords.
  14. Template:Graphtheory An edge of a graph.
  15. Template:Cricket The horizontal path of a ball towards the batsman (see also length).
  16. (baseball, slang, 1800s, ‘the line’) The batter’s box.
  17. (obsolete) Flax; linen, particularly the longer fiber of flax.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): Garments made of line. — Spenser
  18. Direction
    the line of sight or the line of vision
  19. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity. Template:Defdate
    (A date for this quote is being sought): He is uncommonly powerful in his own line, but it is not the line of a first-rate man. — Coleridge
  20. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory; a boundary; a contour; an outline; a demarcation.
    • 1674John Milton, Paradise Lost, book IV
      Eden stretchd her Line / From Auran Eastward to the Royal Towrs / Of great Seleucia,
  21. A threadlike crease or wrinkle marking the face or the hand; hence, characteristic mark.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): Though on his brow were graven lines austere. — Byron
    (A date for this quote is being sought): He tipples palmistry, and dines On all her fortune-telling lines. — Cleveland
  22. Lineament; feature; figure (of one's body).
    • c 1609: Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Cymbeline
      I mean, the lines of my body are as well drawn as his.
  23. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; compare lineage.
    • 14th c: Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales
      Of his lineage am I, and his offspring / By very line,
    • c 1604: Shakespeare, Macbeth
      They hail'd him father to a line of kings.
    • 1651: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
      [T]he rest of the history of the Old Testament derives the succession of the line of David to the Captivity, of which line was to spring the restorer of the kingdom of God [...]
  24. A connected series of public conveyances, as a roadbed or railway track; and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.
    a line of stages
    an express line
  25. Template:Geography A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map.
  26. (geography, ‘the line’ or ‘equinoctial line’) The equator.
    to cross the line
  27. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a tapeline.
  28. (biblical) That which was measured by a line, as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yes. I have a goodly heritage. — Ps. xvi. 6
  29. Template:Engineering The proper relative position or adjustment of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working.
    the engine is in line / out of line
  30. (music) One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.
  31. (stock exchange) A number of shares taken by a jobber.
  32. A measure of length equal to one twelfth of an inch.
    • 1883: Alfred Swaine Taylor, Thomas Stevenson, The principles and practice of medical jurisprudence
      The cutis measures in thickness from a quarter of a line to a line and a half (a line is one-twelfth of an inch).
  33. (firefighting) A hose.

Synonyms[]

  • (row of text): row
  • (letter): epistle, letter, note
  • (geometry: infinite one-dimensional figure): straight line
  • (geometry: continuous segment of an infinite line): line segment

Related terms[]

  • (geometry) curve, point, segment

Derived terms[]

Translations[]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Verb[]

Infinitive
to Line

Third person singular
lin

Simple past
-

Past participle
-

Present participle
ing

to Line (third-person singular simple present lin, present participle ing, simple past and past participle -)

  1. (transitive) To cover the inside/inner surface of (something).
    The bird lines its nest with soft grass.
    to line a cloak with silk or fur
    to line a box with paper or tin
  2. (transitive) To fill or supply (something), as a purse with money.
    (A date for this quote is being sought): The charge amounteth very high for any one man’s purse, except lined beyond ordinary, to reach unto. — Carew.
  3. (transitive) To place (objects) into a line (usually used with "up"); to form into a line; to align.
    to line troops Template:Rfex
  4. (transitive) To place persons or things along the side of for security or defense; to strengthen by adding; to fortify.
    to line works with soldiers
    • 1599William Shakespeare, Henry V, ii 4
      Line and new repair our towns of war With men of courage and with means defendant.
  5. (transitive) To mark with a line or lines, to cover with lines.
    to line a copy book
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To represent by lines; to delineate; to portray.
    • 1598William Shakespeare, As You Like It, iii 2
      All the pictures fairest lined Are but black to Rosalind.
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To impregnate (applied to brute animals). — Creech.
  8. (transitive) To read or repeat line by line.
    to line out a hymn
  9. (intransitive, ‘line up’) To form or enter into a line.
  10. (intransitive, baseball) To hit a line drive; to hit a line drive which is caught for an out. Compare fly and ground.
    • Jones lined to left in his last at-bat.

Derived terms[]

Translations[]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

References[]

Part or all of this page has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Anagrams[]

  • eiln,
  • LEIN
  • lien
  • Neil
  • Nile

Italian[]

Etymology[]

English

Noun[]

line f. inv.

  1. line management
  2. editing (of a TV programme)

Related terms[]

  • off-line
  • on-line

Anagrams[]

  • eiln,
  • lenì

Old English[]

Etymology[]

Proto-Germanic *līnon, līnion (line, rope, flaxen cord, thread) from Proto-Germanic *līnan (flax, linen) from Proto-Indo-European *līn- (flax). Akin to Old High German līna "line" (Template:Deu Leine "rope"), Template:Dum līne "rope, cord" (Template:Nld lijn "rope"), Old Norse līna "cord, rope" (Template:Dan line "rope, cord"), Old English līn "flax, linen, cloth"

Noun[]

līne f.

  1. line, rope, cable
  2. row, series
  3. direction, rule

Declension[]

Singular Plural
nominative līne līnan
accusative līnan līnan
genitive līnan līnena
dative līnan līnum

Related terms[]

Descendants[]

ar:line cs:line de:line et:line el:line es:line fa:line fr:line ko:line io:line id:line it:line kn:line kk:line sw:line ku:line lo:line lt:line li:line hu:line ml:line nl:line ja:line no:line oc:line pl:line pt:line ru:line simple:line sr:line fi:line sv:line ta:line te:line uk:line vi:line zh:line

Advertisement