The noun λινον (linon) means flax. It occurs only twice in the New Testament and denotes items that are made from flax, such as a linen garment (Revelation 15:6), or the wick of a lamp (Matthew 12:20). In extra-biblical texts this word is also used to denote cords or fishing lines and subsequently bird hunting nets and fishing nets (see δικτυον, diktuon, net).

The mythical thread of destiny spun by the Fates was known by this word. One of the sons of Apollo was called Linus, and he was considered the inventor of melody and rhythm, probably because of the use of instruments with linen strings (in Hebrew Scriptures this quality is ascribed to Jubal).

In English and other languages, this noun exists as linen and is the source of words like lining and liner. In Latin, it appears to even have formed the familiar noun linea, meaning (linen) thread and hence line in general and plumb-line specifically. It's not clear where these words come from or what they most fundamentally conveyed, but see below, under λεντιον (lention), for some suggestions.

Also note that the name Sabrina wasn't really a personal name until the 1954 movie Sabrina, with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, in which brothers David and Linus vie for the attentions of Sabrina, the chauffeur's daughter. The name Sabrina means "of the Severn", and the Severn is the greatest river in Great Britain (see our article on the name Tigris for the significance of this). Like Casablanca and Breakfast at Tiffany's (Tiffany = theophany), Sabrina explains the rise of benevolent capitalism in the US, following the destruction of Europe. For more on Britain and why Britain is important in a Biblical sense, see our article on Phoenicia and Crete.

The noun λεντιον (lention) describes a linen cloth, towel or apron, which was worn by servants, particularly in Egypt (John 13:4 and 13:5 only). A λεντιαριος (lentiarios) was a man dressed in, or otherwise involved with, a λεντιον (lention), and appears to have been a generic term for a servant at a bath: a towel boy.

Our noun λεντιον (lention) is a transliteration of the Latin term linteum, which described any linen cloth but not rarely also a ship's sail or some banner or sign. This suggests that the λεντιον (lention) would commonly have featured identifying marks (or colors) that would identify the house which the servant served, or else the capacity in which he served. This Latin noun linteum is closely related to linum, flax, hence λινον (linon), flax (see above), and these words, as well as English words like "line", clearly derive from the same ancient term but it's no longer clear from which one, or in what way, or what the most essential meaning of this ancestor word may have been.

The Hebrew word for fine Egyptian linen is שש (shesh), which is identical to the words שש (shesh), six and שש (shesh), alabaster, which in Greek is αλαβαστρον (alabastron).

It's not outside the realm of possibility that our noun λινον (linon) is ultimately Semitic (see our article on the many Hebrew roots of Greek). The prefix ל (le) is a common indicator of function (to do such and such with), and for the remaining part, here at Abarim Publications we would suspect relations with either the cluster of words that includes verbs נסך (nasak), to weave, and שכך (sakak), to cover, or else the noun נס (nes), flag or banner (under which troops would rally), from the verb נסס (nasas), to display conspicuously. The term לנס (lenes), to be a conscious sign or to rally, occurs in Numbers 26:10, 35:6, Deuteronomy 4:42, Isaiah 11:10, Ezekiel 27:7.