Les·bi·an
Audio Help [lez-bee-uh
n] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [lez-bee-uh
n] Pronunciation Key –adjective
–noun
| 1. | of or pertaining to Lesbos. |
| 2. | (usually lowercase ) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of female homosexuality. |
| 3. | (usually lowercase ) erotic; sensual. |
| 4. | an inhabitant of Lesbos. |
| 5. | (usually lowercase ) a female homosexual. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
lesbian
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| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| les·bi·an
Audio Help (lěz'bē-ən) Pronunciation Key
n. A woman whose sexual orientation is to women. adj. Of, relating to, or being a lesbian. See Usage Note at gay. [From the putative homosexuality of Sappho, lyric poet of Lesbos.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| Les·bi·an
Audio Help (lěz'bē-ən) Pronunciation Key
n.
adj. Of or relating to Lesbos. [From Latin Lesbius, from Greek Lesbios, from Lesbos.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
lesbian (adj.)
1591, from L. Lesbius, from Gk. lesbios "of Lesbos," Gk. island in northeastern Aegean Sea, home of Sappho, great lyric poet whose erotic and romantic verse embraced women as well as men, hence meaning "relating to homosexual relations between women" (1890; lesbianism in this sense is attested from 1870) and the noun, first recorded 1925. Slang variant lez, les is from 1929; lesbo first attested 1940. Before this, the principal fig. use (common in 17c.) was lesbian rule (1601) a mason's rule of lead, of a type used on Lesbos, which could be bent to fit the curves of a molding; hence, "pliant morality or judgment."
"And this is the nature of the equitable, a correction of law where it is defective owing to its universality. ... For when the thing is indefinite the rule also is indefinite, like the leaden rule used in making the Lesbian moulding; the rule adapts itself to the shape of the stone and is not rigid, and so too the decree is adapted to the facts." [Aristotle, "Nicomachean Ethics"]
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| lesbian | |
adjective | |
| 1. | of or relating to or characterized by homosexual relations between woman |
noun | |
| 1. | a female homosexual |
| 2. | a resident of Lesbos |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
lesbian
A homosexual woman. (See also gay.)
[Chapter:] Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Lesbian
Les"bi*an\ (l[e^]s"b[i^]*an), a. Of or pertaining to the island anciently called Lesbos, now Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Lesbian
Les"bi*an\, a. Amatory; erotic; -- in allusion to the reputed sensuality of the Lesbian people and literature; as, Lesbian novels.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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