From Latin 'linum' (flax) — potentially older than Indo-European itself, since flax was domesticated around 9,000 BCE.
Cloth woven from the fibers of the flax plant; household articles such as sheets and tablecloths, originally made from this fabric.
From Old English 'līnen' (made of flax), an adjective derived from 'līn' (flax, linen), from Proto-Germanic *līną (flax), which was borrowed very early from Latin 'līnum' (flax, linen thread), itself from Ancient Greek 'λίνον' (linon, flax, linen, anything made of flax). The ultimate origin may be a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean substrate word, since flax cultivation predates the Indo-European expansion. Flax was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9,000 BCE, making linen the oldest textile fiber known to humanity
The word 'line' — as in a straight line — comes from 'linen.' Latin 'līnea' (a linen thread, a string, a line) is a derivative of 'līnum' (flax). A line was originally a thread stretched tight. 'Lingerie' also comes from the same root — French 'linge' (linen), because undergarments were originally made of linen. And 'linoleum' is literally 'linseed oil' (linum + oleum) spread on fabric. Linen is the oldest textile in human history — fragments of dyed flax