also bi-linear, "of or having reference to two lines," 1847, from Modern Latin (in botany); see bi- "two" + linear. Related: Bilinearly; bilinearity.
Entries linking to bilinear
bi-
word-forming element meaning "two, having two, twice, double, doubly, twofold, once every two," etc., from Latin bi- "twice, double," from Old Latin dvi- (cognate with Sanskrit dvi-, Greek di-, dis-, Old English twi-, German zwei- "twice, double"), from PIE root *dwo- "two."
Nativized from 16c. Occasionally bin- before vowels; this form originated in French, not Latin, and might be partly based on or influenced by Latin bini "twofold" (see binary). In chemical terms, it denotes two parts or equivalents of the substance referred to. Cognate with twi- and di- (1).
linear adj.
"resembling a line, of or pertaining to lines," 1640s, from French linéaire, from Latin linearis "belonging to a line," from linea "string, line" (see line (n.)). Essentially the same word as lineal; "in Latin linearis the original suffix -alis was changed to -aris by dissimilation, but in Late Latin this rule was no longer productive and the formation or re-formation in -alis remained unchanged." [Barnhart].
As "involving the use of lines" from 1840, hence Linear A, Linear B, names given (1902-3) to two related forms of linear Minoan writing discovered 1894-1901 in Crete by Sir Arthur Evans and long defying translation. It is used there in opposition to pictographic.