noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈlɛzbiəˌnɪzəm/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:L EH1 Z B IY0 AH0 N IH0 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Female homosexuality; the state of a woman being sexually attracted to other women.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
female homosexuality
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree English lesbian Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English lesbianism From lesbian + -ism.
Across languages
Translations
28 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
سِحَاق
(siḥāq)
— Female homosexuality
Catalan:
lesbianisme
— Female homosexuality
Chinese Mandarin:
女同性戀 /女同性恋
(nǚ tóngxìngliàn)
— Female homosexuality
