labial

American  

[ley-bee-uhl] / ˈleɪ bi əl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a labium.

2. of or relating to the lips.

3. Phonetics. involving lip articulation, as p, v, m, w, or a rounded vowel.

4. Music. having the tones produced by the impact of a stream of air on a sharp liplike edge, as in a flute or the flue pipes of an organ.

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noun

Phonetics.

1. any labial consonant, especially a bilabial.

2. any labial sound.

labial British  

/ ˈleɪbɪəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or near lips or labia

2. music producing sounds by the action of an air stream over a narrow liplike fissure, as in a flue pipe of an organ

3. phonetics relating to a speech sound whose articulation involves movement or use of the lips

   a labial click

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noun

1. Also called: labial pipe.  music an organ pipe with a liplike fissure

2. phonetics a speech sound such as English p or m, whose articulation involves movement or use of the lips

Other Word Forms

• interlabial adjective
• labiality noun
• labially adverb
• postlabial adjective
• postlabially adverb
• prelabial adjective
• pseudolabial adjective
• sublabial adjective
• sublabially adverb

Etymology

Origin of labial

From the Medieval Latin word labiālis, dating back to 1585–95. See labium, -al ¹

Example Sentences

Estas herramientas suelen traducir un guion en una voz generada por inteligencia artificial, que luego puede incorporarse a secuencias de video ya existentes mediante programas de sincronización labial.

From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2024

Los mariachis permanecían en silencio a un lado con sus trajes de charro negros con plata, las mujeres con lápiz labial rojo y destellantes aretes colgantes.

From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2022

The labial frenulum is a midline fold of mucous membrane that attaches the inner surface of each lip to the gum.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

It’s certainly difficult to imagine how they would be creating heavy wear on the labial sides of their teeth.

From Scientific American • Nov. 20, 2012

But once you’ve gone this far, I must point out, with primary, secondary, auditory, olfactory, and labial hallucinations, as well as tactile and optical fantasies, it is pretty bad business.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury