Thread: Lineal vs Linear (feet, metres etc)

I've always uses linear but I decided to consult a reference book

According to my copy of the Aussie Macquarie Encylopedic Dictionary;

Linear has 8 meanings with several of these involving maths and measurements.

Lineal has 2 meanings related to following in a line or a sequence and is usually applied to ancestry, while the 3rd meaning is a one word "Linear"

So it appears both are correct.

I have always used LINEAL and that is the right word. So there!!!!

Originally Posted by Blocklayer

If talking about lengths of timber, which is (the most) correct - Linear or Lineal ? eg: 80 lineal feet or 80 linear metres

Lots of conflicting opinions on the web about this. Is Lineal more English and the US say Linear?
Or is Lineal used more with Metric and Linear with Imperial?

I've always said lineal, but am seeing Linear used a lot online.

Which would you use?

:

i have used both at different times for no good reason although i tend to use linear more often

i checked in my dictionary and both of them are listed with the same meaning (and other meanings as well) although they both entered the language in the fourteenth century, the first quotes using them in the context you have described are 1696 (lineal) and 1706 (linear) ... source OED 1933 edition

i really don't think it matters


regards david

Well, you learn something every day. Both are right!
And I always thought that those who said 'lineal' were just mis-pronouncing 'linear'.

I started my apprenticeship as a carpenter in 1957, and have only used and heard used, "lineal", used in reference to the length of a piece of timber.
Jim

Originally Posted by powderpost

I started my apprenticeship as a carpenter in 1957, and have only used and heard used, "lineal", used in reference to the length of a piece of timber.
Jim

I agree lineal for a length of something where is gets followed by foot or metre etc.

and linear if your talking about say moving in a direction that's straight but without something behind it.

I've made an executive decision.

+1 for lineal

At Tech doing Carpentry and Joinery Trade Coarse 1970-73, we only used "lineal" feet in them days and now its "lineal metres". I think we are being exposed to too much stuff from America! We never use "lumber" to build anything we use "timber"!!! Lumber is something to do with your back and best left to the "experts" to manipulate. The CNC builders use linear bearings that run on cylindrical shafts. ie straight lines.
And no I didn't refer to a dictionary,its just how my little brain interprets stuff

Originally Posted by chambezio

At Tech doing Carpentry and Joinery Trade Coarse 1970-73, we only used "lineal" feet in them days and now its "lineal metres". I think we are being exposed to too much stuff from America! We never use "lumber" to build anything we use "timber"!!! Lumber is something to do with your back and best left to the "experts" to manipulate. The CNC builders use linear bearings that run on cylindrical shafts. ie straight lines.
And no I didn't refer to a dictionary,its just how my little brain interprets stuff

Actually, that one is lumbar with an "a"
Stupid English language

Originally Posted by chambezio

At Tech doing Carpentry and Joinery Trade Coarse 1970-73, we only used "lineal" feet in them days and now its "lineal metres". I think we are being exposed to too much stuff from America! We never use "lumber" to build anything we use "timber"!!! Lumber is something to do with your back and best left to the "experts" to manipulate. The CNC builders use linear bearings that run on cylindrical shafts. ie straight lines.
And no I didn't refer to a dictionary,its just how my little brain interprets stuff

I don't think it has much to do with America, if anything I see lineal still being used more on American sites than anywhere else.
Referring to a dictionary can be mighty helpful and interesting. e.g. if you look at the Google on-line dictionary it shows the use of lineal has declined slowly over the last hundred years, whereas linear has become much more popular. Where I see linear used almost exclusively is in science and maths and increasingly in engineering, whereas lineal is more of an tradie term.

The definitions of both as provided by the Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Collins (both British and American English), Cambridge and MacMillan Dictionaries:

Linear: relating to straight lines
Lineal: in a direct line of decent or ancestry

So there we have it, the correct word is LINEAR according to five of the most trusted dictionaries on earth.

Class dismissed

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

The definitions of both as provided by the Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Collins (both British and American English), Cambridge and MacMillan Dictionaries: . . . . . .

Well I contend we are not in England or the USA we are in Australia and we speak Strine. so if we want to refer to any dictionary it should be the Macquarie, which is why I went for it in my first post.

And, FWIW, my copy of the Oxford also says Lineal also means Linear

Originally Posted by BobL

Well I contend we are not in England or the USA we are in Australia and we speak Strine. so if we want to refer to any dictionary it should be the Macquarie, which is why I went for it in my first post.

Yes, but dictionaries usually number definitions according to usage. So I contend that, while both are technically correct, linear is more correct. Also the Macquarie and Oxford are outvoted 4-2

Sorry but being the pedant that I am... I disagree.

Linear - refers to straight in line.

Lineal refers to a measurement distance in a straight line.


Mitchellson & Morley's linear light speed experiment - the distances aren't stated - it's the fact the light beams are sent in straight line directions that makes it linear not lineal.

Sagnac et al's later rotational analogue light speed experiment!.


Interestingly both experiments are fundamentally flawed in design (which I won't bother to go into here) - BUT - the point is that linear suggests straight line direction while lineal hints at a specific measurement distance in a straight line.

I suggest earnestly that there's possibly some old relationship back to "board feet" & "super-feet" as a measurement of timber volumes for ONE of the Lineal/Linear terms perhaps.

Its also possible that the terms are used in the old days for converting T & G Flooring to square feet for e.g.

This is because the tongue on the board - while contributing to the overall width of a single board (e.g. 130 mm wide, but only 125mm cover) does NOT contribute to the square feet surface area when laid - because the tongue slots into the groove on the mating board, and contributes zero surface area to the room area laid - it's only the length of the board and it's cover width (not width overall including tongue) that can be used to calculate the square feet / linear foot or meter available to cover a room in a pack containing a specific length of T & G boards.

Tricky bidness, this timber game.