line

Definition

A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.

Etymology

From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”). Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (“line”), from Latin linea. More at linen. The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.

Example Sentences

• "The arrow descended in a curved line."
• "St Johnstone's Liam Craig had to clear off the line before Steven Anderson sent a looping header into his own net for the equaliser on 36 minutes."
• ""I guess it's like race cars - if you get the right line you can come out at top speed.""

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