Inline

How to spell inline

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce inline

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inline mean?

1. adjectiveArranged in or forming a single continuous line or sequence along one axis.
2. adjectivePlaced directly within the surrounding code or text rather than in a separate block or file.

Inline in a sentence

• The sports car came with a powerful inline six-cylinder engine.

• The developer added an inline comment to explain the tricky calculation.

• He laced up his inline skates before joining the others on the rink.

• The small image was added with an inline style rather than a separate sheet.

Where does inline come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a modern English compound formed straightforwardly from the preposition in and the noun line. The noun line itself goes back to the Latin linea, which meant a linen thread or string, and ultimately to linum, the word for flax, the plant from which linen is spun; a stretched thread naturally came to stand for any straight mark or row. The combined form inline began to appear in technical and industrial writing in the twentieth century to describe parts arranged one after another along a single axis, as in an inline engine. It later spread into computing, where inline code or an inline element sits directly within the surrounding text rather than being set apart, and into sport with inline skates whose wheels are mounted in a single row. Because it is built from two very familiar pieces, the only spelling question is whether to write it as one word, and the modern technical convention has firmly settled on the solid form inline.

How the word is built

• in- (in, within)
• line (from Latin linea, a line or thread)