labia

labia

See also: Labia and lábia

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin labia (“lips”), plural of labium (“lip”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: lā'bē-ə
• IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.bi.ə/
• Rhymes: -eɪbiə

Noun

labia pl (normally plural, singular labium)

1. (anatomy) The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.

   Hypernym: genitals

   Hyponyms: labia majora, labia minora

labia

1. plural of labium

Usage notes

Though usually used as a plural, this noun is also attested as a singular with plural labias or labiae.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:labia

Related terms

• labial
• labium

Translations

folds of tissue at opening of vulva

Arabic: شَفْر‎ m (šafr) Egyptian Arabic: شفة‎ f (šeffa) Bulgarian: у́стни (bg) f pl (ústni) Chinese: Cantonese: 陰脣, 阴唇 (jam1 seon4) Mandarin: 陰脣／阴唇 (zh) (yīnchún) Wu: 陰脣, 阴唇 (in1 zen1) Classical Nahuatl: pīccatl Danish: skamlæber c pl, kusselæber c pl Dutch: (-en) schaamlip (nl) Estonian: häbememokad pl Finnish: häpyhuulet (fi) pl French: lèvres (fr) f pl, lèvres de la vulve f pl German: Labia pl, Schamlippen (de) f pl Greenlandic: utsuit paavisa amersaat pl Hungarian: szeméremajkak (hu) pl Icelandic: skapabarmar (is) m pl Japanese: 陰唇 (ja) (いんしん, inshin) Korean: 음순(陰脣) (ko) (eumsun) Lithuanian: lytinės lūpos pl Luxembourgish: Schimtlëpsen pl Macedonian: усни f pl (usni) Maori: hangutu, werewere (labia minora) Norwegian: kjønnslepper c pl Polish: wargi sromowe f pl Portuguese: lábios (pt) m pl Russian: гу́бы (ru) f pl (gúby), половы́е гу́бы f pl (polovýje gúby) Sami: Inari: kunjopoksâmeh Northern: gudnjobaksamat Skolt: kunnjpõhssâm Spanish: labios (es) m pl, labios de la vulva m pl Swedish: blygdläppar (sv) c pl Volapük: kunudalips

References

• “labia”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• Abila, Alabi, baila

---

Latin

Alternative forms

• labea (feminine noun)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bi.a/, [ˈɫ̪äbiä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bi.a/, [ˈläːbiä]

Noun

labia f (genitive labiae); first declension

1. feminine of labium

Inflection

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	labia	labiae
Genitive	labiae	labiārum
Dative	labiae	labiīs
Accusative	labiam	labiās
Ablative	labiā	labiīs
Vocative	labia	labiae

Descendants

• Languedocien: làbia
• → English: labia

Noun

labia

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of labium

References

• “labia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• labia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

Anagrams

• Abali

---

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin labia.

Noun

labia f (oblique plural labias, nominative singular labia, nominative plural labias)

1. (10th century) lip

   • circa 980, La Vie de Saint Léger

     La labia li ad restaurat

     He [=God] restored his lip to him

Usage notes

• The Vie de Saint Léger citation is the only known recorded usage of the term.

---

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlabja/ [ˈla.β̞ja]
• Rhymes: -abja
• Syllabification: la‧bia

Noun

labia f (plural labias)

1. gift of the gab

Further reading

• “labia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014