lesbian的词源

英文词源

lesbian

lesbian: [16] Originally, and for many centuries, Lesbian simply meant ‘of Lesbos’, referring to the Aegean island of that name, off the Turkish coast. Then, in the second half of the 19th century, probably some time before 1870, it embarked on a more sensational career. The lyric poet Sappho (c. 600 BC) lived on Lesbos, and she was noted for the love poems she wrote to other women. Her name was invoked directly (in Sapphism) around this time as a genteel literary allusion to female homosexuality, but it was the even more deeply euphemistic lesbian that went on to become the main English term in this area.

lesbian (adj.)

1590s, "pertaining to the island of Lesbos," from Latin Lesbius, from Greek lesbios "of Lesbos," Greek island in northeastern Aegean Sea (the name originally may have meant "wooded"), home of Sappho, great lyric poet whose erotic and romantic verse embraced women as well as men, hence meaning "relating to homosexual relations between women" (1890; lesbianism in this sense is attested from 1870) and the noun, first recorded 1925. Her particular association in English with erotic love between women dates to at least 1825, though the words formed from it are later. Before this, the principal figurative use (common in 17c.) was lesbian rule (c. 1600) a mason's rule of lead, of a type used on Lesbos, which could be bent to fit the curves of a molding; hence, "pliant morality or judgment."

And this is the nature of the equitable, a correction of law where it is defective owing to its universality. ... For when the thing is indefinite the rule also is indefinite, like the leaden rule used in making the Lesbian moulding; the rule adapts itself to the shape of the stone and is not rigid, and so too the decree is adapted to the facts. [Aristotle, "Nicomachean Ethics"]

See also tribadism. Greek had a verb lesbiazein "to imitate the Lesbians," which implied "sexual initiative and shamelessness" among women, but not necessarily female homosexuality.

中文词源

lesbian（女同性恋）：古希腊著名女同性恋诗人萨福的出生地莱斯博斯岛

英语单词lesbian指的是女同性恋，来自公元前6世纪古希腊著名女同性恋诗人萨福（Sappho）的出生之地、希腊的莱斯博斯岛（Lesbos）的名称，字面意思就是“莱斯博斯岛的”（of Lesbos）。

在19世纪晚期之前，英语单词lesbian的用法还仅限于其本意，如莱斯博酒（lesbian wine）。到了1890年，医学界开始使用lesbian一词表示女性之间的情欲关系，因此，lesbian一词逐渐成为“女同性恋”的代名词。

莱斯博斯岛是希腊的第三大岛，居民有10万人。由于担心误解，人们一般用该岛的首府Mytilini来称呼该岛。希腊政府甚至考虑将该岛名称改为Mytilini。2008年，莱斯博斯岛本地人向希腊法庭上诉，认为用lesbian一词代指女同性恋有损他们的人权，“让他们在全世界蒙受耻辱”，要求恢复该词的原意，仅用来表示莱斯博斯岛人，禁止女同性恋自称lesbian，但这一要求未获同意。

lesbian：['lezbɪən] n.女同性恋者adj.女同性恋的

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：lesbian 词源，lesbian 含义。

lesbian：女同性恋

来自古希腊爱琴海岛屿Lesbos，因女诗人Sappho与她的诸多学生居住于该岛，并且流传出许多关于女人之间的感情或爱情诗篇而得名。