Meanings
flax1
nounflax (countable and uncountable, plural flaxes)
plural flaxes
- countableuncountableA 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.
- countableuncountableThe fibers of Linum usitatissimum, grown to make linen and related textiles.
- countableuncountableA 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.
Flax2
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*pleḱ-“to plait”
- Proto-Germanic*flahsą
- Old Englishfleax
- Middle Englishflax
- Englishflax
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek λίνον, κάρπασος
- λίνον (línon)the fibers
- κάρπασος (kárpasos)plant
- λίνον (línon)plant
Arabic كَتّان, كَتَّان
- كَتّان (kattān)the fibers
- كَتَّان (kattān)plant
Basque liho
- lihoplant
Bengali তিসি
- তিসি (tiśi)plant
Bulgarian лен, лен
- лен (len)the fibers
- лен (len)plant
Catalan lli, lli
- llithe fibers
- lliplant
Chinese Mandarin 亞麻 /亚麻
- 亞麻 /亚麻 (yàmá)plant
Czech len
- lenplant
Danish hør
- hørplant
Dutch vlas, vlas
- vlasthe fibers
- vlasplant
Esperanto lino
- linoplant
Estonian lina
- linaplant
Finnish pellava, pellava
- pellavathe fibers
- pellavaplant
French lin, lin
- linthe fibers
- linplant
German Flachs, Flachsfaser
- Flachsthe fibers
- Flachsfaserthe fibers
- Leinenthe fibers
- Flachsplant
- Leinplant
Greek λινάρι, λινάρι
- λινάρι (linári)the fibers
- λινάρι (linári)plant
Hebrew פִּשְׁתָּן, פִּשְׁתָּה
- פִּשְׁתָּן (pištā́n)plant
- פִּשְׁתָּה (pištā́)plant
Hungarian len
- lenplant
Icelandic lín
- línplant
Italian lino, lino
- linothe fibers
- linoplant
Japanese 亜麻
- 亜麻 (ama)plant
Korean 아마
- 아마 (ama)plant
Latin līnum
- līnumplant
Latvian lini, lins
- linithe fibers
- linsplant
Lithuanian linas
- linasplant
Malay flaks
- flaksplant
Norwegian Bokmål lin, hør
- linthe fibers
- hørthe fibers
- linplant
- hørplant
Persian کتان, کتان
- کتان (katân)the fibers
- کتان (katân)plant
- وش (vaš)plant
- زغر (zeġer)plant
Polish len, len
- lenthe fibers
- lenplant
Portuguese filaça, linho
- filaçathe fibers
- linhoplant
Romanian in, in
- inthe fibers
- inplant
Russian лён, лён
- лён (ljon)the fibers
- лён (ljon)plant
Slovak ľan
- ľanplant
Spanish lino, lino
- linothe fibers
- linoplant
Swedish lin, lin
- linthe fibers
- linplant
Tagalog sulid
- sulidthe fibers
Tamil ஆளி
- ஆளி (āḷi)plant
Turkish keten
- ketenplant
Ukrainian льон, льон
- льон (lʹon)the fibers
- льон (lʹon)plant
Vietnamese lanh, lanh
- lanhthe fibers
- lanhplant
Welsh llin
- llinplant
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with flax
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
flax. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flax
MLA
“flax.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flax. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flax,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flax.
Source: flax on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.