Deeper Dive: lint
Lint (lĭnt), noun [AS. līnet flax, hemp, fr. līn flax; or, perh. borrowed fr. L. linteum a linen cloth, linen, from linteus linen, a., fr. linum flax, lint. See Linen.]
1. Flax.
2. Linen scraped or otherwise made into a soft, downy or fleecy substance for dressing wounds and sores; also, fine ravelings, down, fluff, or loose short fibers from yarn or fabrics.Lint doctor (Calico-printing Mach.),
a scraper to remove lint from a printing cylinder.
-- Websters 1913