lineal

From Old French lineal, from Latin līneālis, from līnea (“a line”) +‎ -ālis (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, line +‎ -al. Doublet of linear.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪni.əl/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪniːəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

lineal (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to lines; consisting of lines.
2. (law, history and anthropology) Relating to aspects of lineage, such as descent, succession, inheritance or consanguinity.
   • 1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 1, in Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […], →OCLC:

     the prime and ancient right of lineal succession

   • 1693 (first performance), John Dryden, “To My Dear Friend Mr. Congreve, on His Comedy, Call’d, The Double-Dealer”, in The Double-Dealer. A Comedy, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1735, →OCLC, Act I,:

     Oh that your Brows my Laurel had ſuſtain'd, / Well had I been depos'd, if You had Reign'd! / The Father had deſcended for the Son; / For only you are lineal to the Throne.

3. (uncommon) In the direction of a line; measured or ascertained by a line.

   Synonym: linear

   lineal magnitude

4. (art) Line-drawn; composed of lines.

   lineal designs

5. (typography, of a typeface) Sans serif.

• collateral

• (of a line): areal, spacial, spatial

• line
• linear
• lineage

• “lineal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “lineal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• lienal, nillae

Borrowed from Latin līneālis.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [li.neˈal]
• Rhymes: -al

lineal m or f (masculine and feminine plural lineals)

1. linear

   Synonym: linear

• linealitat
• linealment

• “lineal”, 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
• “lineal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “lineal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “lineal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin linealis, from linea (“line”).

• IPA^(key): [lineˈæˀl]

lineal c (singular definite linealen, plural indefinite linealer)

1. a ruler (measuring or drawing device)
2. (figurative) used to denote that someone or something is (too) straight, regular and regulated

• “lineal” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Latin līneālis.

lineal m or f (plural lineais)

1. linear

   Synonym: linear

• linealidade

• liña

• “lineal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

From Latin līneālis. Doublet of linear.

• IPA^(key): /lineˈaːl/
• Rhymes: -aːl

lineal (strong nominative masculine singular linealer, not comparable)

1. (botany, of leaves) linear (long and narrow, with nearly parallel sides)

   Synonyms: linealisch, (obsolete) linearisch

• “lineal” in Duden online

Learned borrowing from Latin līneālis.

lineal m or f (plural lineais)

1. linear

   Synonym: linear

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

From Latin līneālis.

• IPA^(key): /lineˈal/ [li.neˈal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: li‧ne‧al

lineal m or f (masculine and feminine plural lineales)

1. linear

   Synonym: linear

• “lineal”, 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