labium

See also: Labium

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbiəm

Noun

labium (plural labia)

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

   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
• labium inferius oris
• labium superius oris
• 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, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

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”),^[1] making it cognate with Proto-Germanic *lepô (“lip”), although (as with many other roots reconstructed with *b) there is some doubt about whether this root goes back to Proto-Indo-European.^[2][3] Lab- may be the regular outcome of zero-grade tautosyllabic *l̥b.-.^[4] Doublet of labrum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bi.um/, [ˈɫ̪äbiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate 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

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

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

1. Olander, Thomas (2020) “To *b or Not to *b: Proto-Indo-European *b in a Phylogenetic Perspective”, in Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics, volume 133
2. Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 146
3. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “labium”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 319
4. Schrijver, Peter C. H. (1991) The reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European laryngeals in Latin (Leiden studies in Indo-European; 2), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 483

Further reading

• “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

Borrowed from French labium.

Noun

labium n (uncountable)

1. labium

Declension

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

declension of labium (singular only)