Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LIN'E-AR, a. [L. linearis.]

1. Pertaining to a line; consisting of lines; in a straight direction.
2. In botany, like a line; slender; of the same breadth throughout, except at the extremities; as, a linear leaf. Linear numbers, in mathematics, such as have relation to length only; such is a number which represents one side of a plane figure. If the plane figure is a square, the linear figure is called a root. – Encyc. Linear problem, that which may be solved geometrically by the intersection of two right lines. – Encyc.