lesbian

\ˈlɛz.bɪ.ən\

/\ˈlɛz.bɪ.ən\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“lesbian” is uncommon French (frequency #60,158 among 2,567 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,158
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lesbienne.

Corpus desk

Index FR-lesbian · lesbian · French

lesbian · rank #60,158 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,158
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH legos

Nearest frequency peer: legos (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « lesbian »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « lesbian » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lesbian
PropertyValue
Headwordlesbian
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈlɛz.bɪ.ən\
Letters7
Frequency rank#60,158
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « lesbian » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.lesbiantombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « legos » (#60,157), « lazaret » (#60,156), « libertines » (#60,161). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « lesbian » est au #60,158. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lesbian is uncommon French at frequency #60,158 among 2,567 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈlɛz.bɪ.ən\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Lesbienne.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for lesbian, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is lesbian, spelled L-E-S-B-I-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lesbienne.

Synonyms

homosexual

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lesbian"?
"lesbian" is spelled L-E-S-B-I-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈlɛz.bɪ.ən\.
What does "lesbian" mean?
As a noun, "lesbian" means: Lesbienne.
How do you pronounce "lesbian"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lesbian" is \ˈlɛz.bɪ.ən\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lesbian" come from?
"lesbian" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lesbian", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lazaret#60,156lapider#60,154Ligures#60,162Luxeuil#60,174

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list