lineally

L1I1N1E1A1L1L1Y4

adverb

In terms of lines; linewise.

OriginProto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English lineal →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

adverblineally (not comparable)
  1. not comparableIn terms of lines; linewise.

    For copying drawings to a scale differing from the original; e.g., to reduce a drawing, lineally, one fifth: […]

    1888, Henry Albert Reed, Topographical Drawing and Sketching, page 9
  2. not comparablegenealogyBy direct descent.

    […] I admired them both made so well, she hard and spirited, editing her words for no one, and he so distinct-looking he might have been lineally direct from Cro-Magnon man—but of course with present-day differences, including the disorders.

    1953 September 18, Saul Bellow, chapter XI, in The Adventures of Augie March […], New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC, page 205
    2 more examples

    […] I confess it was not without some pleasure that I found my self able to trace the particular Features, by which certain Families are distinguished, up to their Originals. I could plainly discover from whence one Family derives a long Chin […]. Who first brought the Pox into a noble House, which hath lineally descended in scrophulous Tumours to their Posterity.

    1726, Jonathan Swift, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, London: Benjamin Motte, Volume 2, Part 3, Chapter 8, pp. 108-109

    Of the Rev. Mr. Slope’s parentage I am not able to say much. I have heard it asserted that he is lineally descended from that eminent physician who assisted at the birth of Mr. T. Shandy, and that in early years he added an "e" to his name, for the sake of euphony, as other great men have done before him.

    1857, Anthony Trollope, chapter 4, in Barchester Towers

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
linewise

Origin

  1. Englishlineal
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishlineally

From lineal + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Lyellian
Cite this entry
APA

lineally. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lineally

MLA

“lineally.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lineally. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lineally,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lineally.

Source: lineally on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.