flax

See also: Flax

English

A field of flax (Linum usitatissimum)

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæks/
• (dialectal, obsolete) IPA^(key): /flɛks/

• Audio (Berkshire, UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æks

Noun

flax (countable and uncountable, plural flaxes)

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. The 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.

Usage notes

The plural flaxes is used to indicate multiple species or varieties of flax; otherwise, flax is uncountable.

Derived terms

• blue flax
• false flax
• flax bow
• flax milk
• flax seed
• flax-dresser
• flax-leaved daphne
• flax-stick
• flaxen
• Lewis flax
• mountain flax
• New Zealand flax (Phormium spp.)
• yellow flaxFor numerous others see Linum#Selected species on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

 

Translations

plant

• Albanian: li m
• Akkadian: 𒃰 m (GADA /kitû/)
• Arabic: كَتَّان‎ m (kattān)

  Egyptian Arabic: كتان‎ m (kittān)

  Moroccan Arabic: كتان‎ (kattān)

• Aramaic:

  Christian Palestinian Aramaic: ܟܬܢܐ‎ m (/kittānā/), ܟܝܬܢܐ‎ m (/kittānā/)

  Jewish Aramaic: כִּיתָּנָא‎ m (kittānā)

  Classical Syriac: ܟܬܢܐ‎ m (kettānā), ܩܛܘ‎ m (qeṭaw)

• Armenian: վուշ (vuš)

  Old Armenian: վուշ (vuš), կտաւ (ktaw)

• Aromanian: ljin
• Azerbaijani: adi kətan
• Bashkir: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: liho
• Belarusian: лён m (ljon)
• Bengali: তিসি (tisi)
• Bulgarian: лен m (len)
• Catalan: lli m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亞麻／亚麻 (zh) (yàmá)

• Czech: len m
• Danish: hør c
• Dutch: vlas n
• Erzya: сюс (sjus)
• Esperanto: lino
• Estonian: lina
• Faroese: lín n, hørur m
• Finnish: pellava
• French: lin m
• Friulian: lin m
• Galician: liño m
• Georgian: სელი (seli)
• German: Flachs m, Lein m
• Greek: λινάρι n (linári)

  Ancient: κάρπασος f (kárpasos), λίνον n (línon)

• Hebrew: פִּשְׁתָּן‎ m (pištā́n), פִּשְׁתָּה‎ f (pištā́)
• Hungarian: len
• Icelandic: lín n
• Italian: lino m
• Japanese: 亜麻 (あま, ama)
• Kannada: ಅಗಸೆನಾರು (agasenāru)
• Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ការច្នៃ (kaacnay)
• Korean: 아마(亞麻) (ama)
• Kyrgyz: please add this translation if you can
• Latgalian: lyns m
• Latin: līnum n
• Latvian: lins m
• Lithuanian: linas m
• Low German: Flass m
• Macedonian: лен m (len)
• Malay: flaks
• Middle English: flax
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: lîn m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lin n, hør (no) m (obsolete)

  Nynorsk: lin n

• Occitan: lin m
• Old English: fleax
• Ottoman Turkish: كتان‎ (kettan)
• Persian: کتان‎ (katân), وش‎ (vaš), زغر‎ (zeğer) (Afghanistan)
• Polish: len m
• Portuguese: linho m
• Punic: 𐤐𐤔𐤕‎ m (pišt)
• Romanian: in m
• Russian: лён m (ljon)
• Sanskrit: उमा m (umā)
• Sardinian: linu m
• Scots: lint
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ла̏н m

  Roman: lȁn (sh) m

• Slovak: ľan m
• Slovene: lan m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: lan m

• Southern Altai: кӱдели (küdeli)
• Spanish: lino m
• Sumerian: 𒃰 (gada)
• Swabian: Lãẽ
• Swedish: lin n
• Tabasaran: гиниб (ginib)
• Tamil: ஆளி (āḷi)
• Tatar: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: keten
• Turkmen: please add this translation if you can
• Ugaritic: 𐎖𐎉 m (qṭ)
• Ukrainian: льон m (lʹon)
• Uzbek: zigʻir
• Vietnamese: lanh
• Volapük: linum
• Welsh: llin

the fibers

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: лен m (len)
• Catalan: lli m
• Dutch: vlas n
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: pellava
• French: lin m
• Galician: liño m, freba f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Flachs m, Flachsfaser f, Leinen n
• Greek: λινάρι n (linári)

  Ancient: λίνον n (línon)

• Italian: lino m
• Kannada: ಅಗಸೆನಾರು (agasenāru)
• Latvian: lini pl
• Macedonian: лен m (len)
• Norman: lîn m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lin n, hør (no) m (obsolete)

• Persian: کتان‎ (katân)
• Polish: len m
• Portuguese: filaça f
• Romanian: in n
• Russian: лён m (ljon)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: lan m

• Spanish: filasa f
• Swedish: lin n
• Tagalog: sulid
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: льон m (lʹon)
• Vietnamese: lanh

plant native to New Zealand — see phormium

See also

• Flax Bourton
• linen
• tow

References

• flax at OneLook Dictionary Search
• flax on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Linum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• falx

Middle English

Alternative forms

• fflex, flaxe, flex, flexe, vlex

Etymology

Inherited from Old English fleax, from Proto-West Germanic *flahs, from Proto-Germanic *flahsą, from Proto-Indo-European *plek-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flaks/, /flɛks/

Noun

flax (uncountable)

1. Flax (Linum usitatissimum or its fibers)
2. Linen; fabric made out of flax.
3. Flax or straw used as a firestarter; tinder.

Related terms

• flaxen

Descendants

• English: flax

References

• “flex, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Swedish

Noun

flax c

1. (slang) (unexpected) good luck

Declension

Declension of flax
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	flax	flaxet	—	—
Genitive	flax	flaxets	—	—