Etymograph

English

linn

Linn comes from Old English hlynn ‘torrent’, from Proto-West Germanic *hlunni ‘a roar’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- ‘to hear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱlew-1‘to hear’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱl̥néwti2‘to be listening’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱl̥nów-is ~ *ḱln̥w-éy-s2uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlunniz2uncertain
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlunni3‘a roar’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hlynn4‘torrent’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*linne4reconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1814linn4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥néwti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hlunni
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English hlynn
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English linn
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, J. H. Craig pseudonym; James Hogg, The Hunting of Badlewe: A Dramatic Tale: “What seek we here / Amid this waste where…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱlew-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥néwti‘to hear’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱl̥néwtiWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hlunni‘to be listening’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱl̥nów-is ~ *ḱln̥w-éy-sWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hlunniuncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlunnizWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hlunniuncertain
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlunniWiktionary, Old English hlynn‘a roar’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hlynnWiktionary, English linn‘torrent’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*linneWiktionary, English linnreconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1814linnWiktionary, English linn. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, J. H. Craig pseudonym; James Hogg, The Hunting of Badlewe: A Dramatic Tale: “What seek we here / Amid this waste where…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- ‘to hear’

listen, loud, client, scout, leer, shruti, lithe, umlaut, 13 more

Another origin of linn

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*lindos‘lake, liquid’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Cumbricmodern*lınn‘lake’uncertain
  3. Irishc. 1200–presentlinn‘pool, pond’uncertain
  4. Englishtodaylinn

Conflated to some extent with linn (‘waterfall’).

Today it means

noun A waterfall or cataract (torrent of water running over a rocky bed), or a ravine down which such a waterfall rushes.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “linn”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥néwti, Proto-West Germanic *hlunni, Old English hlynn. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- / linn

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