lesbian
lesb·i·an/ˈlɛz.bi.ən/adjective, noun, verb
lesbian is spelled L-E-S-B-I-A-N, 3 syllables: lesb·i·an. The wrong spelling people search most is lesbain: about 360 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 103 of all searches for the word. Lesbian is an adjective meaning “Homosexual, gay; preferring exclusively women as romantic or sexual partners”.
How many letters and syllables are in lesbian?
| Letters | 7: L-E-S-B-I-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: lesb·i·an |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,595th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, lesbain, about 360 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell lesbian?
Lesbian is spelled L-E-S-B-I-A-N. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 67 of the searches for lesbian in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is lesbian?
Lesbian appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,595th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lesbian?
- US /ˈlɛz.bi.ən/
Lesbian has 3 syllables, split lesb·i·an in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-lesbian.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lesbian?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lesbian from its last stressed vowel (/ɛzbiən/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ansible.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lesbian
- more lesbian comparative
- most lesbian superlative
- le$bian
- le dollar bean
- les🫘
- lesbians plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- lesbianing participle, present
- lesbianed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lesbian mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
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
Preferring primarily women as romantic or sexual partners.
- 3
Between two or more women; homosexual, gay.
a lesbian relationship / marriage / kiss
- 4
Intended for lesbians.
We're going to a lesbian bar tonight.
- 5
archaicAlternative letter-case form of Lesbian (“of or pertaining to the island of Lesbos”).
noun
- 1
A homosexual woman, a woman who is exclusively sexually or romantically attracted to other women.
- 2
A female animal that performs courtship, pairing or mating behavior with other female animals.
- 3
archaicAlternative letter-case form of Lesbian (“native or inhabitant of Lesbos.”).
verb
- 1
informalnonstandardTo (cause to) take part in lesbian sex, or other lesbian activity.
noun
- 1
A native or inhabitant of Lesbos.
- 2
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.
- 3
A sweet, mild wine made on Lesbos in ancient times.
- 4
Alternative letter-case form of lesbian (“gay woman”).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to the island of Lesbos.
- 2
Of or pertaining to the Lesbian variety of Aeolic Greek.
- 3
Alternative letter-case form of lesbian (“of women: gay”).
- 4
archaicAmatory; erotic.
Lesbian novels
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate lesbian?
Wiktionary records 4 abbreviations of lesbian: GLB, LGB, les, lesb.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lesbian in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | lesbisch , Lesben- , Lesbe, Lesbierin, Homosexuelle , Lesviot |
| Portuguese | lésbica , sapatão , lésbico |
| Spanish | lesbiana , leñadora, bollera , lesbiano, lesbio, lésbico |
| French | lesbienne, gouine , Lesbien, Lesbienne , lesbien |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lesbian come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).