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PlainSpell

linear

/ˈlɪn.i.əɹ/adjective, noun

linear is spelled L-I-N-E-A-R: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, linear means “Having the form of a line; straight or roughly straight; following a direct course” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in linear?

Letters6: L-I-N-E-A-R
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,878th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 linear?

Linear appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th 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 linear?

  • UK /ˈlɪn.i.ə/
  • US /ˈlɪn.i.əɹ/
  • /liː.nɪ.jə(ɾ)/

Linear has 3 syllables (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-linear.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with linear?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as linear from its last stressed vowel (/ɪniəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: lanier, nailer.

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 linear

  • more linear comparative
  • most linear superlative
  • linears plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does linear mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Having the form of a line; straight or roughly straight; following a direct course.

  2. 2

    Of or relating to lines.

  3. 3

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

    a linear medium

  4. 4

    Long and narrow, with nearly parallel sides.

  5. 5

    Having degree one; that is, being of the form a_1x_1+a_2x_2+⋯+a_nx_n+b, where each x_i is a variable. See also Linear polynomials on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

    4x#43;5y#43;#92;frac#123;1#125;#123;2#125;z is a linear polynomial, but 4xy#43;#92;frac#123;1#125;#123;2#125;z and 4x#43;z² are not.

  6. 6

    Involving only linear polynomials. See also Linear equation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

    The graph of the linear equation y#61;ax#43;b is a straight line with slope a and y-intercept b

  7. 7

    An additive, homogeneous mapping; that is, a function f:V→W is linear if it distributes over vector addition (f( mathbf v+ mathbf w)=f( mathbf v)+f( mathbf w)) and respects scalar multiplication (f(c mathbf v)=cf( mathbf v)). If V and W are vector spaces over a field K, f may also be called a K-linear map. See also linear map on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

    The map f#58;#92;mathbb#123;R#125;³#92;to#92;mathbb#123;R#125;² taking (x,y,z)#92;mapsto(x#43;y#43;z,x-y#43;3z) is a linear map.

  8. 8

    A module homomorphism; that is, a group homomorphism that commutes with scalar multiplication. See also Module homomorphism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

noun

  1. 1

    slangEllipsis of linear amplifier.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Linear in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchlinéaire (having the form of a line)
Germanlinear (having the form of a line), linealisch, lineal (botany, of leaves: long and narrow)
Portugueselinear (having the form of a line)
Spanishlineal (having the form of a line), unidimensional (physics: involving only one dimension)

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 linear come from?

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after linear