Linden

//ˈlɪn.dən// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of various deciduous trees of the genus Tilia, having heart-shaped leaves. uncountable, usually

    "The linden or lime tree is the favourite haunt of the Elves and cognate beings; and it is not safe to be near it after sunset."

  2. 2
    any of various deciduous trees of the genus Tilia with heart-shaped leaves and drooping cymose clusters of yellowish often fragrant flowers; several yield valuable timber wordnet
  3. 3
    The soft wood of such trees. uncountable, usually
  4. 4
    soft light-colored wood of any of various linden trees; used in making crates and boxes and in carving and millwork wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Made of lime-wood. not-comparable, obsolete
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    An English surname from Old English, a variant of Lyndon.
  2. 2
    A Scottish surname, a variant of Linton.
  3. 3
    A surname from Dutch, a variant of Lynden.
  4. 4
    A surname from German, a variant of Lindner.
  5. 5
    A unisex given name transferred from the surname, or for the linden tree.
Show 31 more definitions
  1. 6
    A town in Hesse, Germany.
  2. 7
    A town in Kaiserslautern district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
  3. 8
    A town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
  4. 9
    A town in Westerwaldkreis district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
  5. 10
    A village in the Netherlands.
  6. 11
    A town in Switzerland.
  7. 12
    A suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa; named for founder Johannes van de Linde.
  8. 13
    A town in Guyana, the second-largest settlement in the country; named for Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, 2nd President of Guyana.
  9. 14
    A locality in the Blue Mountains council area, south eastern New South Wales, Australia.
  10. 15
    A ghost town in Western Australia; named for nearby Mount Linden, itself named for a prospector in the area.
  11. 16
    A village in Alberta.
  12. 17
    A community in Nova Scotia.
  13. 18
    A number of places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Marengo County, Alabama; named for the Battle of Hohenlinden, in honor the Bonapartist refugees who were Marengo County's first European settlers.
  14. 19
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Arizona.
  15. 20
    A number of places in the United States:; A census-designated place in San Joaquin County, California, United States.
  16. 21
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Idaho; named for the community in Christian County, Missouri.
  17. 22
    A number of places in the United States:; A town in Indiana.
  18. 23
    A number of places in the United States:; A city in Iowa.
  19. 24
    A number of places in the United States:; A city in Michigan.
  20. 25
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Minnesota.
  21. 26
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Atchison County, Missouri; named for the linden trees in the area.
  22. 27
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Christian County, Missouri; named for the town in Tennessee.
  23. 28
    A number of places in the United States:; A city in Union County, New Jersey; named for linden trees brought to the area from Germany.
  24. 29
    A number of places in the United States:; A town in North Carolina.
  25. 30
    A number of places in the United States:; A neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio.
  26. 31
    A number of places in the United States:; A town, the county seat of Perry County, Tennessee; named for "Hohenlinden", a poem by Scottish poet Thomas Campbell.
  27. 32
    A number of places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Cass County, Texas.
  28. 33
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Virginia.
  29. 34
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Wise County, West Virginia.
  30. 35
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Roane County, West Virginia; named for Confederate officer Charles Linden Broadus.
  31. 36
    A number of places in the United States:; A town and village in Wisconsin.

Synonyms

All synonyms
basswoodlimebasswoodebonylime treelinden tree

Example

More examples

"Barren trees are the fir, elder, birch, cypress, beech, ivy, sallow, linden and so on, but most of them afford shade."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English linden, from Old English linden (“linden”, adjective), from Proto-Germanic *lindīnaz, from Proto-Germanic *lindō (“linden tree”), equivalent to lind + -en. Cognate with Middle Low German linden (“linden”, adjective), German Low German Linnenboom (“linden-tree”), West Frisian linenbeam (“linden-tree”), German linden (“linden”, adjective). The English noun developed from the adjective.

Etymology 2

* As a Dutch, German and Jewish surname, plural form of Linde. * As a Dutch and West Flemish surname, from several placenames called Linden or Lienden. Also shortened from Vanderlinden. * As a Swedish surname, from lind (“lime tree”). Compare Lindeen. * As an English surname, variant of Lindon. * As an Irish surname, shortened from McLinden, itself a variant of McClinton.

Related phrases

Lake Lindenlinden-treecass countycounty seatlime treemarengo countynew jerseynew south walesnorth brabantnorth carolinanova scotiawestern australia

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.