1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lint

LINT (in M. Eng. linnet, probably through Fr. linette, from lin, the flax-plant; cf. “line”), properly the flax-plant, now only in Scots dialect; hence the application of such expressions as “lint-haired,” “lint white locks” to flaxen hair. It is also the term applied to the flax when prepared for spinning, and to the waste material left over which was used for tinder. “Lint” is still the name given to a specially prepared material for dressing wounds, made soft and fluffy by scraping or ravelling linen cloth.