"line" in seven languages
Meaningline
Spanish
línea
/ˈlinea/
fem.learned
French
ligne
/liɲ/
fem.inherited
Italian
linea
/ˈlinea/
fem.learned
Portuguese
linha
/ˈliɲɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
linie
/ˈlinie/
fem.learned
Catalan
línia
/ˈliniə/
fem.learned
English
line
/laɪn/
from Latin/French · Latin LĪNEA (via Old English līne and Old French ligne)
English → ItalianlinelineaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
LĪNEAM‘linen thread, line (from LĪNUM 'flax')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A line was first a linen thread. Only French inherited it, turning NI into gn (ligne, as in vigne); Spanish and Italian took línea and linea from books.
English relatives: linear, linen, lineage, align
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esDibuja una línea recta.
- frTrace une ligne droite.
- itTraccia una linea retta.
- ptDesenhe uma linha reta.
- roTrage o linie dreaptă.
- caDibuixa una línia recta.
- enDraw a straight line.