Lesbian
nounadjectivecommon in dialogue
A native or inhabitant of Lesbos.
noun
- 1
A native or inhabitant of Lesbos.
- 2
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.
- 3
historicalA 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.
More capacious bowls bring hither, boy, and the Chian wine or the Lesbian : or what might restrain this flowing qualm;
Horace, born 65 B.C., says that there is no wine sweeter to drink than Lesbian, and that it was perfectly harmless and would not produce intoxication.
- 4
Variant of lesbianAlternative letter-case form of lesbian (“gay woman”).
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.
adjective
- 1
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.
- 2
Of or pertaining to the Lesbian variety of Aeolic Greek.
- 3
archaicAmatory; erotic.
Lesbian novels
- 4
Variant of lesbianAlternative 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.
Forms
- plural
- Lesbians
- comparative
- more Lesbian
- superlative
- most Lesbian