Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

lesbian

/ˈlɛz.bi.ən/ adjective, noun, verb

Forms lesbians lesbianing lesbianed le$bian le dollar bean les🫘

  1. adjective (of a woman) Homosexual, gay; preferring exclusively women as romantic or sexual partners. “Lesbian fans of the show were rooting for Jane and Amanda to get together.”
  2. adjective (of a woman, loosely) Preferring primarily women as romantic or sexual partners.
  3. adjective (of a romantic or sexual act or relationship) Between two or more women; homosexual, gay. “a lesbian relationship / marriage / kiss”
  4. adjective (especially of an institution or group) Intended for lesbians. “We're going to a lesbian bar tonight.”
  5. noun A homosexual woman, a woman who is exclusively sexually or romantically attracted to other women.
  6. noun (uncommon) A female animal that performs courtship, pairing or mating behavior with other female animals.
  7. verb (informal, nonstandard, ambitransitive) To (cause to) take part in lesbian sex, or other lesbian activity.
  8. noun (countable) A native or inhabitant of Lesbos.
  9. noun (linguistics, uncountable) 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.
  10. noun (historical) A sweet, mild wine made on Lesbos in ancient times.
  11. adjective Of or pertaining to the island of Lesbos.
  12. adjective (linguistics) Of or pertaining to the Lesbian variety of Aeolic Greek.
  13. adjective (archaic) Amatory; erotic.

Synonyms

dyke gay homosexual beanflicker bulldiker bulldyker carpet muncher chemise lifter clam smacker clitorist crack snacker donut bumper flat cracker gayelle gap-lapper gynecophile kamp lesbianist lesbo lezzer tribade gay woman sapphic

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.

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.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Of or pertaining to the island anciently called Lesbos, now Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lesbian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details