lesbian

Etymology

From Latin Lesbiana, from Ancient Greek Λέσβος (Lésbos) + Latin adjective suffix -iana; by reference to Sappho of Lesbos (whence also sapphist, sapphic), known for her sentimental poems about women. This sense of the word may have been borrowed from, or influenced by, the German cognate lesbisch, where it is found in medical literature from the 1830s.

adj

1. (of a woman) Homosexual, gay; preferring mostly or exclusively women as romantic or sexual partners.
   Lesbian fans of the show were rooting for Jane and Amanda to get together.
2. (of a romantic or sexual act or relationship) Between two or more women; homosexual, gay.
   a lesbian relationship / marriage / kiss
   The so-termed Lesbian love is a vice of a still more hideous and degrading nature than pederasty. 1855 [1854], Charles Hempel, transl., Homœopathic guide in all diseases of the Urinary and Sexual Organs, Philadelphia: Rademacher & Sheek, translation of Der homöopathische Rathgeber: in allen Krankheiten der Geschlechts- und Harnwerkzeuge by Wilhelm Gollmann, page 201
   […] Madonna's infamous nationally televised lesbian kiss with Britney Spears […] 2011, Michael Bruce, Robert M. Stewart, College Sex - Philosophy for Everyone, page 32
3. (especially of an institution or group) Intended for lesbians.
   We're going to a lesbian bar tonight.
   Some lesbians also felt comfortable in the entertainment clubs in the black section of the city; these clubs were not lesbian but were lesbian friendly. 2000, Bonnie Zimmerman, Encyclopedia of lesbian and gay histories and cultures, volume 1, page 135
   Openly gay poets such as Allen Ginsberg were prominent among the beats, and many North Beach bars were gay and lesbian as well as bohemian. 2008, Carl Abbott, How cities won the West: four centuries of urban change, page 283

noun

1. A homosexual woman, one who is mostly or exclusively sexually or romantically attracted to other women.
   There have also been women who loved other women. These are the Lesbians or Tribades. 1904, Jacobus X, Crossways of Sex: A Study in Eroto-pathology, volume 1, page 2
   Another Spanish-speaking respondent said that she does not identify as a lesbian because that is a term for women who like women, and as she does not like women, and so she cannot be a lesbian. 2020, Ana Patrícia Hilário, Fábio Rafael Augusto, Practical and Ethical Dilemmas in Researching Sensitive Topics with Populations Considered Vulnerable, page 91
2. (uncommon) A homosexual female animal.
   There was one recently that determined on an island off California 14 percent of the female sea gulls were lesbians (and we know that kind of thing would never go among Nantucket sea gulls). 1979, Terry Hekker, Ever Since Adam and Eve, New York: Morrow
   The only between this pair and others in the community is that they are among the 8 to 14 percent of the residents that are lesbians. After building their nest, the pair, two female western gulls, customarily produce twice as many eggs […] 2014, George H Harrison, Birds Do It, Too: The Amazing Sex Life of Birds, Willow Creek Press

verb

1. (informal, nonstandard, transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) take part in lesbian sex, or other lesbian activity.
   That's the way I want to go – Lesbianed to death. 2014, Ian Collin, Angels of The North, page 107
   Surveillance by other inmates creates yet another dimension of power and control. Angry with Chapman and Vause, Dogget tells Healy that she has witnessed the two “lesbianing” in the shower, […] 2016, April Kalogeropoulos Householder, Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, Feminist Perspectives on Orange Is the New Black, page 85