Wurdahuzdą: Proto-Germanic dictionary — *līnąScott K. ShayWardja Presshttps://protogermanic.org/pgmc_līną
Single-entry extract from the dictionary. Cross-references to other entries point to their identifiers in the full dictionary.
nounneutera-stemflaxLikely from Proto-Indo-European *līno-.Cognates include Latin līnum and all its derivatives.Although Greek λίνον (línon), Latin linas, Russian лён (ljon) are sometimes listed as cognates, they actually derive from *lino- with a short /i/.Considering also the existence of a Latin root with a short /i/ and a /t/ (linteum), reconstruction of a common PIE protoform is impossible, and no similarly sounding terms are attested outside of Europe.If such roots were borrowed from one or several non-IE languages, locating the source is impossible because cultivation of linen was ubiquitous in the region since the Neolithic.