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Synonyms

labium

American  
[ley-bee-uhm] / ˈleɪ bi əm /

noun

plural

labia

  1. a lip or liplike part.

  2. Anatomy.

    1. a lip or lip-shaped structure or part.

    2. any of the folds of skin bordering the vulva.

  3. Botany. the lower lip of a bilabiate corolla.

  4. Entomology. the posterior, unpaired member of the mouthparts of an insect, formed by the united second maxillae.

labium British  
/ ˈleɪbɪəm /

noun

  1. a lip or liplike structure

  2. any one of the four lip-shaped folds of the female vulva See labia majora labia minora

  3. the fused pair of appendages forming the lower lip of insects

  4. the lower lip of the corolla of labiate flowers

"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
labium Scientific  
/ lā′bē-əm /

plural

labia

  1. Either of two pairs of folds of tissue that make up part of the external genitalia of female mammals.

Other Word Forms

  • pseudolabium noun

Etymology

Origin of labium

1590–1600; < Latin: lip, akin to lambere to lick, lap 3. See labrum 1, lip

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.

At the tip of the labium are the labellæ, two little lobes which serve to guide the piercing organs.

From Insects and Diseases A Popular Account of the Way in Which Insects may Spread or Cause some of our Common Diseases by Doane, Rennie Wilbur

Endolabium: the inner or mouth surface of the labium: the hypopharynx when that is well developed.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

Epipharynx: an organ, probably of taste, attached to the inner surface of the labium and supposed to correspond to the palate of higher animals Epiglossa or epiglottis.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

The labium or second maxillæ, so large in the moth, serves simply as a spinneret in the caterpillar.

From Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses by Packard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring)

The number is significant, since it agrees with that found in Edriophthalmous Crustacea, and assigns the labium of the Hexapod to the same somite numerically as that which carries the labium-like maxillipedes of those Crustacea.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.