ligne

American  

[leen, leen-y^uh] / lin, ˈlin jə /

noun

lignes plural

1. (in Swiss watchmaking) a unit equal to 0.0888 inch or 2.2558 millimeters, divided into 12 douziemes: used mainly to gauge the thickness of a movement.

2. line.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lignes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ligne

< French: line ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ligne lignes

Then there was the look of the movie: the challenge of turning Hergé's famous ligne claire into a three-dimensional world that actors could walk around in.

From Time ● Oct. 31, 2011

Hergé drew his panels in an elegant, instantly recognizable style that has been so influential, it has acquired a name: ligne claire, or clear line.

From Time ● Oct. 31, 2011

Made one last effort and came out in ligne de vol, as nearly as I could judge, about one hundred and fifty metres from the ground.

From High Adventure A Narrative of Air Fighting in France by Hall, James Norman

What struck me first was that these insignificant and inadequate people had the command of the grand gesture—had la ligne.

From Coming Home 1916 by Wharton, Edith

The mere mention of the most trifling subject sufficed to set it in motion, and the listeners were treated to a "magazine article worth fifty centimes la ligne au moins," as Dumas put it.

From An Englishman in Paris Notes and Recollections by Albert D.

The French term, fuyante or lignes fuyantes, or going-away lines, is more expressive; and point de fuite, instead of vanishing point, is much better.

From The Theory and Practice of Perspective by Storey, G. A. (George Adolphus)

Medal for General Morgan, of twenty-four lignes in diameter.

From The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by Jacquemart, Jules-Ferdinand

Its curves and ovals and circles are annoying after the lignes droites and the right angles and the broderies of the French variety.

From Royal Palaces and Parks of France by McManus, Blanche