Linear A

American  

noun

1. an ancient system of writing, not yet deciphered, inscribed on clay tablets, pottery, and other objects found at Minoan sites on Crete and other Greek islands.

---

Linear A British  

noun

1. a hitherto undeciphered script, partly syllabic and partly ideographic, found on tablets and pottery in Crete and dating mainly from the 15th century _bc

---

Etymology

Origin of Linear A

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Linear A

It might just as well be written in Latin, or Linear A — the still-undeciphered language of ancient Crete — for all its relevance.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 12, 2026

Knossos was rebuilt, and scribes there began employing a new script scholars call Linear B, apparently derived from Linear A and found to be an early form of Greek.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

They used a form of writing referred to by historians as Linear A that has never been deciphered.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

Notably, they then adapted Linear A, the script in which the Cretans wrote their own language, into Linear B, a script for writing Greek.

From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2015

For the same reason, we can be sure that the Linear B syllabary of Mycenaean Greece had been adapted by around 1400 B.C. from the Linear A syllabary of Minoan Crete.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond