Standard Lemma guide

sapphism

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.

  • UK, US: /ˈsæ.fɪzm̩/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Lesbianism; female homosexuality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lesbianism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: homosexuality, homosexualism, homoeroticism, queerness, gayness

Narrower terms: tribadism

History

Etymology

From Sappho (“a poet of the isle of Lesbos (612 B.C.E. - 570 B.C.E.)”) + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: лесбийство (lesbijstvo) — lesbianism
  • Dutch: sapfisme — lesbianism
  • French: sapphisme — lesbianism
  • French: saphisme — lesbianism
  • German: Sapphismus — lesbianism
  • Indonesian: safisme — lesbianism
  • Italian: saffismo — lesbianism
  • Japanese: サッフィズム (saffizumu) — lesbianism
  • Norwegian Bokmål: saffisme — lesbianism
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sapfisme — lesbianism
  • Polish: safizm — lesbianism
  • Portuguese: safismo — lesbianism
  • Spanish: safismo — lesbianism