English Explanatory Dictionary

flax

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A plant of the genus Linum, especially Linum usitatissimum, which has a single, slender stalk, about a foot and a half high, with blue flowers. Also known as linseed, especially when referring to the seeds.
  2. The fibers of Linum usitatissimum, grown to make linen and related textiles.
  3. A flax bush, a plant of the genus Phormium, native to New Zealand, with strap-like leaves up to 3 metres long that grow in clumps.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/flæks/ /flɛks/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-flax.wav

Word forms

flax flaxes

Etymology

From Middle English flax, from Old English fleax, from Proto-Germanic *flahsą, from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to plait”). Cognate with Old Frisian flax, Dutch vlas, Old High German flahs (German Flachs); the Northern Germanic (and most likely the Gothic too) stem is different.

Related words

Flax Bourton linen tow

Derived words

blue flax earthflax false flax flax bow flaxbush flaxcomb flax cotton flax dodder flax-dresser flaxen flax-leaved daphne flaxlike flax milk flaxseed flax seed flax-stick flaxweed flaxwort flaxy holy flax Lewis flax mountain flax New Zealand flax toadflax

Translations

Akkadian: 𒃰 Albanian: li Southern Altai: кӱдели Southern Altai: кеден Arabic: كَتَّان Arabic: كتان Aramaic: ܟܬܢܐ Aramaic: ܟܝܬܢܐ Aramaic: ܩܛܘ Aramaic: כִּיתָּנָא Armenian: վուշ Old Armenian: վուշ Old Armenian: կտաւ Aromanian: ljin Azerbaijani: adi kətan Basque: liho Belarusian: лён Bengali: তিসি Bulgarian: лен Catalan: lli Chinese Mandarin: 亞麻 /亚麻 Czech: len Danish: hør Dutch: vlas Erzya: сюс Esperanto: lino Estonian: lina Faroese: lín Faroese: hørur Finnish: pellava French: lin Friulian: lin Galician: liño Georgian: სელი German: Flachs German: Lein Swabian: Lãẽ Greek: λινάρι Ancient Greek: κάρπασος Ancient Greek: λίνον Gujarati: અળસી Hebrew: פִּשְׁתָּן Hebrew: פִּשְׁתָּה Hungarian: len Icelandic: lín Italian: lino Japanese: 亜麻 Kannada: ಅಗಸೆನಾರು Kazakh: зығыр Khmer: ការច្នៃ
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