| 释义 |
Lesbian, a. and n.|ˈlɛzbɪən|
[f. L. Lesbi-us, Gr. λέσβιος + -an.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of or pertaining to the island of Lesbos, in the northern part of the Grecian archipelago. Lesbian rule: a mason's rule made of lead, which could be bent to fit the curves of a moulding (Aristotle Eth. Nic. v. x. 7); hence fig., a principle of judgement that is pliant and accommodating. (Very common in 17th c., but app. not always correctly understood.)
1601S. Daniel To Sir T. Egerton 131 That Lesbian square, that building fit, Plies to the worke, not forc'th the worke to it. 1605Timme Quersit ii. ii. 111 The composition and wonderful nature thereof is, as it were, a certaine example and Lesbian rule of our worke. 1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. Magnif. 1117 Another, leveld by the Lesbian Squire Deep under ground (for the Foundation) joyns Well-polisht Marble. a1628Preston New. Covt. (1630) 233 Thou goest not by a straight rule, but by a leaden Lesbian rule. 1703Rowe Ulysses ii. i. 945 The Chian and the Lesbian Grape. 1711W. King tr. Naude's Rej. Politics v. 188 It [artificial, politic Justice] is soft and pliant enough to accommodate itself as the Lesbian rule to human and popular weakness. 1724–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Cymatium, Lesbian cymatium, according to Vitruvius, is what we otherwise call talon.
b. absol. Short for ‘Lesbian wine’.
1775E. Barry Observations Wines of Ancients vi. 99 The best Greek Wines, the Chian, Lesbian, Coan, &c. were equally prepared in the same manner. 1824A. Henderson Hist. Anc. & Mod. Wines i. viii. 123 The dessert-wines most commonly mentioned as in use among the Greeks are the Thasian and Lesbian. 1846R. Ford Gatherings from Spain xiv. 163 Manzanilla..may be compared to the ancient Lesbian, which Horace quaffed so plentifully in the cool shade, and then described as never doing harm.
2. (Freq. with lower-case initial.) [After the alleged practice of Sappho, the poetess of Lesbos; cf. Sapphic a. and n., ] Of a woman: homosexual, characterized by a sexual interest in other women. Also, of or pertaining to homosexual relations between women.
1890Billings Med. Dict. II. 47/1 Lesbian love, tribadism. 1892C. G. Chaddock tr. Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis v. 429 We are indebted to Parent-Duchalet..for interesting communications concerning Lesbian love. 1931R. Campbell Georgiad i. 13 No Lesbian governess had got the start of him. 1933H. S. Walpole Vanessa iv. 781 She disliked people to take it for granted that unless she was Lesbian she was uninteresting. 1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 52, 50 adult female respondents who would define themselves..as being Lesbian or homosexual or both. 1974Ms July 118/1 Testimony from a group of bright articulate lesbians covering: lesbian sexuality, problems of lesbian mothers..and the lesbian lifestyle.
B. n. A female homosexual.
1925A. Huxley Let. 21 Apr. (1969) 246 After a third-rate provincial town, colonized by English sodomites and middle-aged Lesbians, which is, after all, what Florence is, a genuine metropolis will be lively. 1936C. Day Lewis Friendly Tree i. 23, I shall never write real poetry. Women never do, unless they're invalids or Lesbians or something. 1940‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 132 Gruff-voiced Lesbians in corduroy breeches..could walk along the streets without attracting a glance. 1947E. Taylor View of Harbour x. 170 ‘I think I look like a Lesbian,’ Beth said doubtfully. 1973[see homosexual a.].
Hence ˈLesbianism, female homosexuality.
1870A. J. Munby Diary 2 May in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 283 Swinburne..expressed a horror of sodomy..and an actual admiration of Lesbianism, being unable..to see that that is equally loathsome. 1895A. Douglas Let. in H. M. Hyde Trials Oscar Wilde (1948) 360 Thus in England there are no laws against ‘Lesbianism’ or intercourse of an erotic character between women, and yet there are several women in London whose friendship with other women does carry a taint and a suspicion, simply because these women are obviously ‘sapphic’ in their loves. 1897H. Ellis Stud. Psychol. Sex I. iv. 82 Casanova remarked that the women of Provence are especially inclined to Lesbianism. 1965[see homosexual a.]. 1971C. Wolff Love between Women iii. 40 No theory has so far been evolved which deals exclusively with lesbianism.
▸ lesbian marriage n. a relationship or bond between two female partners which is likened to that between a married couple; (in later use chiefly) a formal or symbolic marriage bond or ceremony contracted between two women, sometimes one conferring legal rights (cf. gay marriage n. at gay adj. and adv. and n. Special uses 2b).
1939J. Bithell Mod. German Lit. iii. 63 The heroine makes a pact with a theatrical agent that she will drain the cup of joy to the dregs, which she does, with the inclusion of a *Lesbian marriage. 1986S. Churcher N.Y. Confidential ix. 212 Peeches Three, a crowded Seventy-second Street lesbian spot,..hosted such intimate events as a lesbian marriage. 1994Nation (Nexis) 5 Sept. 241 A priest in Hartford who used the rituals to perform a number of gay and lesbian marriages was recently excommunicated. |