ABSTRACT

Linum usitatissimum, the specific name for flax within the family Linaceae, aptly describes its usefulness and versatility. In fact, the name Linum originated from the Celtic word lin or “thread,” and the name usitatissimum is Latin for “most useful” (Kolodziejczyk and Fedec, 1995). According to the Compact Oxford Dictionary, the old French word “linnet” means “the bird which hovers feeding on the seeds over flax fields.” The word “line” is derived from a Latin or Greek ancestor, linum, meaning “flax”; other words such as linen, lining, linear, and lineage are all derived from the word “line” (Judd, 1995). These ancient linguistic origins underscore the importance of flaxseed or linseed, as it is sometimes called, to the economic and social development of humans.