[LINDEN a. used subst.
The recent currency of the word is prob. due to its use in translations of German romance, as an adoption of G. linden pl. of linde, or as the first element in the comb. lindenbaum = ‘linden-tree.’]
1. The lime-tree (see LIME sb.3).
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. 106 b. The Lynden [printed Lynder], in Greeke φιλλυρία, and so in Italian, in Spanish Latera, in Dutch Lynden.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, VI. lxxiii. 754. The broth of the leaves of Lynden sodde in water cureth the noughtie ulcers and blisters of the mouthes of young children.
a. 1785. T. Potter, Moralist, II. 20. A majestic Linden reared its towering branches over the mouldering battlements.
1814. Byron, Lara, II. xxv. Herself would … seat her down upon some linden’s root.
1853. M. Arnold, Scholar-Gipsy, iii. Air-swept lindens yield Their scent.
1889. Cook, in Nature, 3 Oct., 559. When the linden was in bloom a single hive of bees would sometimes store up 15 lbs. of honey in the day.
2. Antiq. Used to render the OE. lind, shield of lime-tree wood.
1855. J. Hewitt, Anc. Armour, I. 78. The shields placed in the graves were the ordinary ‘lindens,’ of which no part commonly remains but the metal-boss and handle.
3. attrib. and Comb., as linden-tree; linden-shaded adj.
a. 1849. J. C. Mangan, Poems (1859), 102. The *linden shaded courtyard.
1579. Langham, Gard. Health (1633), 373. *Linden tree: for filthy sores of childrens mouthes.
1591. Percivall, Sp. Dict., Teja, a linden tree.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 817. Linden-tree, Tilia.
1818. Scott, Battle of Sempach, 1. ’Twas when among our linden-trees The bees had housed in swarms.
