Translation guide
The English word 'linen' can refer to the fabric made from flax, or to household items like sheets and tablecloths. In Japanese, different words are used depending on whether you mean the material or the items.
Referring to the textile made from flax fibers, used for clothing, tablecloths, etc.
The most common and direct loanword for linen fabric. Used in fashion and home goods contexts.
このシャツはリネンでできています。
This shirt is made of linen.
A broader term for hemp or flax fibers. Can refer to linen but also to other bast fibers. Often used in traditional contexts.
麻の服は夏に涼しい。
Linen clothes are cool in summer.
Specifically refers to flax (the plant). Used in technical or botanical contexts, not common in everyday conversation about fabric.
亜麻はリネンの原料です。
Flax is the raw material for linen.
Referring to cloth items used in the home, such as bed sheets, pillowcases, towels, tablecloths, and napkins.
Also used for household linens, especially in hotel or retail contexts. Often part of compound words like ベッドリネン (bed linen).
ホテルのリネンは毎日交換されます。
Hotel linens are changed daily.
Refers to bedding in general, including sheets, blankets, and pillows. Not specific to linen material.
Specifically means bed sheet. Use this when you mean the sheet itself, not the material.
シーツを洗ってください。
Please wash the sheets.
リネン is the safest choice for linen fabric in modern contexts. 麻 is broader and can refer to hemp or ramie, but is understood as linen in many cases. 亜麻 is strictly the flax plant and rarely used in everyday speech.
While リネン can mean household linens, it's more natural to use specific words like シーツ (sheets) or タオル (towels) when referring to individual items.
I bought new bedding.
Means tablecloth. Use when referring to a cloth covering a dining table.
白いテーブルクロスをかけましょう。
Let's put on a white tablecloth.