Where does the word 'Lesbian' originate with reference to gay Females?

Answer 1

It may come from the island of Lesbos, home of the Greek poetess Sapho, that was homosexual

Answer 2

The word "lesbian" comes from the island of Lesbos in the East Aegean and the communities of women there. The island was made famous by the woman poet Sappho.. She lived in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, where women often congregated and, among other social activities, shared poetry they'd written. Sappho's poems usually focus on the relationships among women.

This focus has given rise to speculation that Sappho's interest in women was what today would be called homosexual or lesbian. This may be an accurate description of Sappho's feelings towards women, but it may also be accurate that it was more acceptable in the past -- pre-Freud -- for women to express strong passions towards one another, whether the attractions were sexual or not.

Although the word "amor lebiscus" was a precursor of the word "lesbian", until the last century the word was not one generally heard. Women of the Victorian era, for instance, often developed what polite society referred to as "romantic friendships". Actually, polite society never really referred to it at all. Any talk of a sexual nature was unthinkable. A skirting of any conversation on romantic friendships was an indication of the mores of the day, with a population in which women heavily outnumbered men. A law was passed in 1885 that made it illegal for two men to have sex but never touched on the subject of two women. It is commonly believed that the real reason behind this is that Queen Victoria flatly refused to accept that such a thing was possible! With these facts of life, women tended to engage themselves in relationships with other women, often progressing to a live-in situation. Of course, society whispered behind handkerchiefs and fans. Yet vocally, the pair was referred to as "companions".

Answer 3

The word "lesbian" is derived from the Victorian interpretation of the poems of Sappho whose poetry was taken to mean sexual rather than emotional or platonic love between her and other women. Because of this association, the Greek Isle of Lesbos and especially the town of Eressos, the birthplace of Sappho, are visited frequently by lesbian tourists to this day. Ironically there isn't any documentation to suggest that Sappho was what is today refered to as a Lesbian as in a woman who has sexual relations with other women.

Answer 4

It literally means 'citizen of Lesbos'. Lesbos is a Greek island in the north Aegean.
In classic times some 2,500 years ago the female poet Sappho lived and wrote on the island. She was a noted female homosexual.

Answer 5

Copy & Paste .... to much to remember.

The ‘Lesbian’

The social constructionist linguistic argument cannot account for the fact that the modern lesbian identity has had the label ‘lesbian’ well before the ‘queer moment’ in 1869. In fact, in English at least, the term had exactly the same meaning in the early eighteenth century as in the late twentieth. In Western cultures, women-loving-women have been called ‘lesbians’ and sometimes ‘Sapphists’ for hundreds of years. These are generic terms for ‘female homosexual’ rather than for specific sexual acts or even sex/gender roles. Lesbian sexuality generally is not perceived in binary penetrative terms, but as a matter of mutual genital rubbing. Most lesbian terms suggest a generalized female–female sexuality rather than specific sexual acts

Answer 6

Back in ancient history when the Greeks celebrated the Olympics they were reserved only to men, no women could attend or watch, and the women had a similar event in the isle of Lesbos and no men were allowed, to this day nobody knows exactly what went on during those "festivities", so the name of the island was given to the women that attended those festivities "Lesbians" and since it was only women with women it came to be applied to homosexual women,and the name of Olympian was given to the men that attended the Olympics.

Answer 7

From the ancient Greek island Lesbos.

Answer 8

A poetess in ancient Greece wrote magnificient poems to female lovers, and her home was on the Greek island of Lesbos. Her name was Sapho, as I recall.

Answer 9

The greek island of Lesbos where the woman were said to like other women in greek mythology.

Answer 10

From the Greek island of Lesbos.