line
/laɪn/noun, interjection, verb
line is spelled L-I-N-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 309 times per million words in written English, the 306th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, line means “A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of line is lines.
How many letters and syllables are in line?
| Letters | 4: L-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 309 times per million words; the 306th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is line?
Line appears 309 times per million words in written English, the 306th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce line?
- US /laɪn/
- Australia /lɑen/
- [lɑe̯n]
Line has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-line.ogg, En-au-line.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with line
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with line?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as line from its last stressed vowel (/aɪn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lien.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of line
- lines plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- lining participle, present
- lined participle, past
- lin
- lyne
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does line mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
The arrow descended in a curved line.
- 2
An infinitely extending one-dimensional figure that has no curvature; one that has length but not breadth or thickness.
- 3
informalA line segment; a continuous finite segment of such a figure.
- 4
An edge of a graph.
- 5
A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map.
- 6
The equator.
- 7
One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.
- 8
The horizontal path of a ball towards the batsman (see also length).
- 9
A group of people born in a certain year (liners).
maknae line; hyung line; 97 line
- 10
obsoleteFlax, linen.
- 11
The longer fiber(s) of flax.
interjection
- 1
Expresses that the speaker has forgotten their dialogue and needs to be prompted with it.
verb
- 1
To place (objects) into a line (usually used with "up"); to form into a line; to align.
to line troops
- 2
To place persons or things along the side of for security or defense; to strengthen by adding; to fortify.
to line works with soldiers
- 3
To form a line along.
- 4
To mark with a line or lines; to cover with lines.
to line a copy book
- 5
To align (one or more switches) to direct a train onto a particular track.
The dispatcher lined the switches at Pickle interlocking for the freight turnout to clear the train into the passing track before the express arrived.
- 6
obsoleteTo represent by lines; to delineate; to portray.
- 7
datedTo read or repeat line by line.
to line out a hymn
- 8
To hit a line drive; to hit a line drive which is caught for an out. Compare fly and ground.
Jones lined to left in his last at-bat.
- 9
To cover the inner surface of (something), originally especially with linen.
to line a cloak with silk or fur
- 10
To fill or supply (something), as a purse with money.
to line the shelves
- 11
archaicTo copulate with, to impregnate.
noun
- 1
Acronym of long interspersed nuclear element, a type of retrotransposon in genomics.
- 2
A close quarters combat system, see LINE (combat system) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate line?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of line: l, l..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Line in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Leine , Linie , Gerade , Strecke , Kante , Breitenkreis |
| Portuguese | fio, linha , risco, traço , reta , enfileirar |
| Spanish | hilo, línea , rasgo, trazo, vírgula , forrar |
| French | ligne, trait , droite , fourrer , ride , file |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does line come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).