Flaxen
/ˈflæk.sən/noun
Made of, resembling, or the color of flax; pale yellow.
Did you know?Flaxen comes from flax, the plant whose fibers were spun into linen; the word’s power is botanical, not magical, but it carried strong cultural associations with purity, lightness, and domestic ritual.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
fleax
“flax, the plant used for fiber and seed”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*flahsą
“flax”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pleh₁k-
“to pluck, to peel, to tear off fibers”
Middle English
ME
flaxen
“made of flax; flax-colored”
Modern English
English
flaxen
“pale yellow or resembling flax”