lesbian
adjective
- female and homosexual
noun
- woman who is attracted to other women; homosexual female
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈlɛz.bi.ən/
adj
Etymology: From Latin Lesbius (“Lesbian”) (for further etymology, see Ancient Greek Λέσβος (Lésbos)) + adjective suffix -an, from Latin adjective suffix -anus. The sense of “gay woman” is a reference to Sappho, a famous inhabitant of Lesbos and gay poet.
- Of or pertaining to the island of Lesbos.
“Within twenty-four hours of quitting the security of a Lesbian port, all the contrarieties I had experienced were to be exceeded by the horrors of a tremendous hurricane.”
- Of or pertaining to the Lesbian variety of Aeolic Greek.
- Alternative letter-case form of lesbian (“of women: gay”).
“Except two breeds—the stupid and the narrowly feline—all women have a touch of the Lesbian: an assertion all good non-analytic creatures refute with horror, but quite true: there is always the poignant intensive personal taste, the flair of inner-sex, in the tenderest friendships of women.”
“One woman wrote, “Because you are Black and Lesbian, you seem to speak with the moral authority of suffering.” Yes, I am Black and Lesbian, and what you hear in my voice is fury, not suffering.”
- Amatory; erotic.
“Lesbian novels”
noun
Etymology: From Latin Lesbius (“Lesbian”) (for further etymology, see Ancient Greek Λέσβος (Lésbos)) + adjective suffix -an, from Latin adjective suffix -anus. The sense of “gay woman” is a reference to Sappho, a famous inhabitant of Lesbos and gay poet.
- A native or inhabitant of Lesbos.
- The variety of Aeolic Greek spoken on Lesbos from about 800 to 300 b.c., best known from the writings of Sappho and Alcaeus of Mytilene.
- A sweet, mild wine made on Lesbos in ancient times.
“Our Saviour in the gospel preferreth old wine before new; & Aristotle liketh better of the wine of Lesbos, the the^([sic]) wine of Rhodes; he affirmeth both to be good, but the Lesbian the more pleasant, alluding vnder that parable to the successour of his schoole, and noting his choise rather of Theophrastus borne at Lesbos, then Menedemus at Rhodes.”
“[…] but the best Greek Wines, the Chian, Lesbian, Coan, &c. were equally prepared in the same manner; and we have reason to think that the same process was more generally used, and in preparing some of the best and most generous Italian wines.”
- Alternative letter-case form of lesbian (“gay woman”).
verb
Etymology: From Latin Lesbiana, from Ancient Greek Λέσβος (Lésbos) + Latin adjective suffix -iana; by reference to Sappho of Lesbos (whence also sapphist, sapphic), known for her sentimental poems about women. This sense of the word may have been borrowed from, or influenced by, the German cognate lesbisch, where it is found in medical literature from the 1830s.
- To (cause to) take part in lesbian sex, or other lesbian activity.
“That's the way I want to go – Lesbianed to death.”
“Surveillance by other inmates creates yet another dimension of power and control. Angry with Chapman and Vause, Dogget tells Healy that she has witnessed the two “lesbianing” in the shower, […]”