Library / English Dictionary

LESBIAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A resident of Lesbos

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Lesbian" is a kind of...):

Greek; Hellene (a native or inhabitant of Greece)

Instance hyponyms:

Alcaeus (Greek lyric poet of Lesbos; reputed inventor of Alcaic verse (611-580 BC))

Sappho (the Greek lyric poet of Lesbos; much admired although only fragments of her poetry have been preserved (6th century BC))

Holonyms ("Lesbian" is a member of...):

Lesbos; Lesvos; Mytilene (an island of eastern Greece in the eastern Aegean Sea; in antiquity it was famous for lyric poetry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A female homosexual

Synonyms:

gay woman; lesbian; tribade

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("lesbian" is a kind of...):

gay; homo; homophile; homosexual (someone who is sexually attracted to persons of the same sex)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lesbian"):

butch; dike; dyke ((slang) offensive term for a lesbian who is noticeably masculine)

Derivation:

lesbian (of or relating to or characterized by homosexual relations between woman)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characterized by homosexual relations between woman

Synonyms:

lesbian; sapphic

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

homosexual (sexually attracted to members of your own sex)

Derivation:

lesbian (a female homosexual)

Credits