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Sappho

American  
[saf-oh] / ˈsæf oʊ /

noun

  1. c620–c565 b.c., Greek poet, born in Lesbos.


Sappho British  
/ ˈsæfəʊ /

noun

  1. 6th century bc , Greek lyric poetess of Lesbos

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Sappho Cultural  
  1. An ancient Greek poet known for her love lyrics.


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The word lesbian is derived from the island of Lesbos, the birthplace of Sappho, who was a homosexual.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Koyel Ghosh, who uses "they" and "them" as personal pronouns, is the managing trustee of Sappho for Equality, the first Lesbian-Bisexual-Transmasculine people rights collective in eastern India that started two decades ago.

From BBC • Jul. 27, 2023

They may be the fragments missing from Schwartz’s homage to Sappho — this elusive, at times joyful and enveloping not-quite-novel.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2023

Kjartansson and his wife, the artist Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdottir, took the lyrics from the Greek poet Sappho and from Vivant Denon, whose exquisite 18th-century novella “No Tomorrow” gives the piece its name.

From Washington Post • Nov. 14, 2022

The library, for instance, has likenesses of Marcus Aurelius, Alexander the Great and Sappho, while such Renaissance men as Galileo and Leon Battista Alberti keep company on the terrace.

From New York Times • Feb. 23, 2022

Mute, carrying his pitiful chalkboard around, lost in his restoration of Sappho, Lefty had begun to seem old to his son.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides