flax
UK /flaks/ · US /flæks/ noun, proper noun
Forms flaxes
- noun 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.
- noun The fibers of Linum usitatissimum, grown to make linen and related textiles.
- noun 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.
- proper noun A surname.
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A plant of the genus Linum, esp. the L. usitatissimum, which has a single, slender stalk, about a foot and a half high, with blue flowers. The fiber of the bark is used for making thread and cloth, called linen, cambric, lawn, lace, etc. Linseed oil is expressed from the seed.
- noun The skin or fibrous part of the flax plant, when broken and cleaned by hatcheling or combing. Earth flax (Min.), amianthus.
Etymology [AS. fleax; akin to D. vlas, OHG. flahs, G. flachs, and prob. to flechten to braid, plait,m twist, L. plectere to weave, plicare to fold, Gr. Ply.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “flax”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details