linear

Borrowed from Latin līneāris, from līnea (“line”) + -āris (adjectival suffix), equivalent to line +‎ -ar. Doublet of lineal.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪni.ə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪni.əɹ/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈliːnija(ɾ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪniə(ɹ)

linear (comparative more linear, superlative most linear)

1. Having the form of a line; straight or roughly straight; following a direct course.
   • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:

     The route taken does not have to be a perfectly straight line, just so long as it is linear and is followed consistently for each transect taken.

2. Of or relating to lines.

   Synonym: lineal

3. Made, or designed to be used, in a step-by-step, sequential manner.

   a linear medium

4. (botany, of leaves) Long and narrow, with nearly parallel sides.
5. (mathematics) (of polynomials or polynomial equations)
   1. (of a polynomial) Having degree one; that is, being of the form ${\displaystyle a_{1}x_{1}+a_{2}x_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}x_{n}+b}$, where each ${\displaystyle x_{i}}$ is a variable. See also Linear polynomials on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

      ${\displaystyle 4x+5y+{\frac {1}{2}}z}$ is a linear polynomial, but ${\displaystyle 4xy+{\frac {1}{2}}z}$ and ${\displaystyle 4x+z^{2}}$ are not.

   2. (of a polynomial equation) Involving only linear polynomials. See also Linear equation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

      The graph of the linear equation ${\displaystyle y=ax+b}$ is a straight line with slope ${\displaystyle a}$ and y-intercept ${\displaystyle b}$

6. (mathematics) (of functions or maps)
   1. (of a function between vector spaces) An additive, homogeneous mapping; that is, a function ${\displaystyle f:V\to W}$ is linear if it distributes over vector addition (${\displaystyle f(\mathbf {v} +\mathbf {w} )=f(\mathbf {v} )+f(\mathbf {w} )}$) and respects scalar multiplication (${\displaystyle f(c\mathbf {v} )=cf(\mathbf {v} )}$). If ${\displaystyle V}$ and ${\displaystyle W}$ are vector spaces over a field ${\displaystyle K}$, ${\displaystyle f}$ may also be called a ${\displaystyle K}$-linear map. See also linear map on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

      The map ${\displaystyle f:\mathbb {R} ^{3}\to \mathbb {R} ^{2}}$ taking ${\displaystyle (x,y,z)\mapsto (x+y+z,x-y+3z)}$ is a linear map.

   2. (of a function over a module) A module homomorphism; that is, a group homomorphism that commutes with scalar multiplication. See also Module homomorphism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
7. (physics) A type of length measurement involving only one spatial dimension (as opposed to area or volume).

   a linear meter

8. (Discuss⁽⁺⁾ this sense) (media, of video and audio) Delivered or delivering on a fixed schedule, as opposed to on-demand. [From 1980s]

   Synonyms: broadcast, tune-in

   Antonyms: streaming, on-demand, non-linear

   linear TV, linear content, linear video, linear radio

   Linear television is dead or, at least, declining.

   Linear television includes traditional over-the-air broadcasting, as well as much cable and satellite broadcasting.

   • 2004, Wolfgang Hoeg, Thomas Lauterbach, editors, Digital Audio Broadcasting: Principles and Applications of Digital Radio, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 186:

     Linear radio relates to our well-known tune-in radio, where the listener depends on the programmers schedule. In non-linear radio applications, the listener is able to choose previously broadcast audio pieces, which are held in local storage of the receiver (“mailbox”).

• linelike

• nonlinear

• (pertaining to length): areal, spacial, spatial
• (one-dimensional unit): cubic, square

linear (plural linears)

1. (radio slang) Ellipsis of linear amplifier.

• linear on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “linear”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “linear”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• Arline, Erlian, Irelan, Lanier, aliner, enrail, lanier, larine, nailer, renail

Borrowed from Latin līneāris.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [li.neˈar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [li.neˈa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [li.neˈaɾ]

linear m or f (masculine and feminine plural linears)

1. linear

   Synonym: lineal

• línia

• “linear”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “linear”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “linear” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “linear” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Latin līneāris. Doublet of lineal.

• IPA^(key): /lineˈaːɐ̯/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːɐ̯

linear (strong nominative masculine singular linearer, comparative linearer, superlative am linearsten)

1. linear (having the form of a line; straight or roughly straight; following a direct course)

   Synonyms: gerade, geradlinig, linienförmig

2. linear; lineal (pertaining to lines)

   Synonym: zeichnerisch

3. linear (made in a step-by-step, straightforward manner)

   Synonym: geradlinig

4. (mathematics) linear (pertaining to polynomials of degree one)

   Synonym: (obsolete) linearisch

5. (physics) linear (in one dimension)

   Synonym: eindimensional

6. (art) line-drawn; lineal (drawn using line art)

• “linear” in Duden online

Internationalism, borrowed from Dutch lineair (“linear”), from French linéaire, from Latin līneāris.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /liˈnɛar/
• Rhymes: -ar, -r
• Hyphenation: li‧nè‧ar

linèar (comparative lebih linear, superlative paling linear)

1. alternative spelling of linièr (“linear”)

• “linear”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Learned borrowing from Latin līneāris.

• Hyphenation: li‧ne‧ar

linear m or f (plural lineares)

1. linear (having the form of a straight line)
2. (mathematics) linear (being a first-degree polynomial)
3. linear (made in a step-by-step, logical manner)

• linha

• “linear”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

linear m or n (feminine singular lineară, masculine plural lineari, feminine and neuter plural lineare)

1. alternative form of liniar

• IPA^(key): /lineˈaɾ/ [li.neˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: li‧ne‧ar

Borrowed from Latin lineāris.

linear m or f (masculine and feminine plural lineares)

1. (botany) linear

Borrowed from Latin lineāre.

linear (first-person singular present lineo, first-person singular preterite lineé, past participle lineado)

1. to line
2. to outline, mark out

• “linear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024