labium

labium

See also: Labium

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin labium (“a lip”). Doublet of lip.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

labium (plural labia)

1. (anatomy, usually in the plural) A liplike structure; especially one of the two pairs of folds of skin on either side of the vulva.

   Hyponyms: labium majus, labium minus

2. (botany) The lip of a labiate corolla.
3. (entomology) A lower mouthpart of an insect that is formed by the second pair of maxillae united in the middle line.
   1. (zoology) A liplike part of various invertebrates.
4. (music) The lip against which pressured air is driven to produce sound in a recorder and in a pipe organ with flue pipes.

Derived terms

• eclabium
• labial
• labiate
• labiose
• pseudolabium

 

Related terms

• labrum
• saccolabium

Translations

liplike structure

Bulgarian: устна (bg) f (ustna) Chinese: Mandarin: 脣／唇 (zh) (chún) Estonian: häbememokk (et) Finnish: huuli (fi); häpyhuuli (fi) (in vulva) French: lèvre (fr) f, lèvre de la vulve f German: Schamlippe (de) f Hungarian: álarc (hu) Marathi: जिवणी (jivṇī), चीरी (cīrī), भेगा (bhegā), दला (dalā), स्त्रीपुष्पदला (strīpuṣpadlā), स्त्रीपुष्पहार (strīpuṣpahār), कळी (kaḷī), कलिका (kalikā), मुकुल (mukul), रती (ratī), मदनमंजिरी (madanmañjirī), ऋतुमंजिरी (ŕtumañjirī), पुष्पगंधा (puṣpagandhā), नार (nār) Polish: warga sromowa (pl) f Romanian: labie (ro) f Russian: губа́ (ru) f (gubá) Spanish: labio (es) m, labio de la vulva m Swedish: blygdläpp (sv) c Volapük: kunudalip

lip of a labiate corolla

Chinese: Mandarin: 脣／唇 (zh) (chún) Finnish: huuli (fi) Russian: ла́биум m (lábium), ни́жняя губа́ f (nížnjaja gubá)

References

• “labium”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “labium”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Anagrams

• Malibu, malibu

---

French

Noun

labium m (plural labiums)

1. (zoology) labium

Further reading

• “labium”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Latin

Alternative forms

• labia, labea

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”) +‎ -ium (nominal suffix). Doublet of labrum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bi.um/, [ˈɫ̪äbiʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bi.um/, [ˈläːbium]

Noun

labium n (genitive labiī or labī); second declension

1. (anatomy) a lip

   Synonym: labrum

2. an axle or some other part of an oil press

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	labium	labia
Genitive	labiī labī1	labiōrum
Dative	labiō	labiīs
Accusative	labium	labia
Ablative	labiō	labiīs
Vocative	labium	labia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

• labiālis (adjective)
• labiō (verb)
• labiōsus, labeōsus (adjective)
• sublabium

Descendants

Descendants of labium in other languages

• Catalan: llavi
• → English: labium
• → Italian: labio
• → Portuguese: lábio
• → Spanish: labio

References

• “labium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “labium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• labium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• labium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

---

Romanian

Etymology

From French labium.

Noun

labium n (uncountable)

1. labium

Declension

declension of labium (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) labium	labiumul
genitive/dative	(unui) labium	labiumului
vocative	labiumule