different between lesbian vs transgender

English

Etymology

From Latin Lesbiana, from Ancient Greek ?????? (Lésbos) + Latin adjective suffix -iana; by reference to Sappho of Lesbos (whence also sapphist, sapphic), known for her sentimental poems about women. This sense of the word may have been borrowed from, or influenced by, the German cognate lesbisch, where it is found in medical literature from the 1830s.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?l?zbi.?n/

Adjective

lesbian (comparative more lesbian, superlative most lesbian)

1. (of a woman) Homosexual, gay; preferring mostly or exclusively women as romantic or sexual partners.

2. (of a romantic or sexual act or relationship) Between two or more women; homosexual, gay.
   • 2011, Michael Bruce, Robert M. Stewart, College Sex - Philosophy for Everyone ?ISBN, page 32:

     […] Madonna's infamous nationally televised lesbian kiss with Britney Spears […]

3. (especially of an institution or group) Intended for lesbians.
   • 2000, Bonnie Zimmerman, Encyclopedia of lesbian and gay histories and cultures, volume 1, page 135:

     Some lesbians also felt comfortable in the entertainment clubs in the black section of the city; these clubs were not lesbian but were lesbian friendly.

Synonyms

• (of a woman: preferring women partners): dyke (usually offensive, but reclaimed by some lesbians), gay (preferred by some lesbians), homosexual (not specific to women)
• (between women; pertaining to women's homosexuality): dyke (usually offensive, but reclaimed by some lesbians), gay (preferred by some lesbians), homosexual (not specific to women)

Translations

Noun

lesbian (plural lesbians)

1. A homosexual woman, one who is mostly or exclusively sexually or romantically attracted to other women.
   • 1904, Jacobus X, Crossways of Sex: A Study in Eroto-pathology, volume 1, page 2

     There have also been women who loved other women. These are the Lesbians or Tribades.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:lesbian.
2. (uncommon) A homosexual female animal.
   • 1979, Terry Hekker, Ever Since Adam and Eve (New York : Morrow):

     There was one recently that determined on an island off California 14 percent of the female sea gulls were lesbians (and we know that kind of thing would never go among Nantucket sea gulls).

   • 2014, George H Harrison, Birds Do It, Too: The Amazing Sex Life of Birds, Willow Creek Press (?ISBN):

     The only between this pair and others in the community is that they are among the 8 to 14 percent of the residents that are lesbians. After building their nest, the pair, two female western gulls, customarily produce twice as many eggs […]

Usage notes

• Many dictionaries define lesbian simply as a woman who is sexually (or romantically) attracted to other women. It especially refers to one who is attracted mostly or exclusively to other women. It is sometimes used in a way that includes other (e.g. bisexual) women who love women, or certain non-binary people.

Synonyms

• Sapphic, sapphist, gayelle
• (offensive) Amy-John, beaver eater, beanflicker, boondagger, bulldiker, bulldyker, carpet muncher, clam smacker, crack snacker, cunt-lapper, donut bumper, dyke, lesbianist, lezzer, lezzie, lezzo, rug muncher, scissor sister, todger dodger, vagitarian, clitorist
• See also Thesaurus:female homosexual

Hypernyms

• LGBT
• gay
• homosexual
• queer

Hyponyms

• korephile

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Hindi: ???????? (lesbiyan)
• ? Urdu: ??????

Translations

See also

• (sexual orientations) sexual orientation; asexual (-ity, ace), bisexual (-ity, bi), demisexual (-ity, demi), graysexual (-ity), heterosexual (-ity, straight), homosexual (-ity, gay, lesbian), omnisexual (-ity), pansexual (-ity, pan), plurisexual (-ity), polysexual (-ity), robosexual (-ity), sapiosexual (-ity), androsexual (-ity), gynesexual (-ity) ^{(Category: en:Sexual orientations)}

References

Anagrams

• Nieblas, ansible, balines, bilanes

Interlingua

Adjective

lesbian (not comparable)

1. lesbian

Hypernyms

• homosexual

Derived terms

• lesbiana

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French lesbien.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /les.bi?an/

Adjective

lesbian m or n (feminine singular lesbian?, masculine plural lesbieni, feminine and neuter plural lesbiene)

1. lesbian

Declension

See also

• lesbian?

English

Etymology

From trans- +? gender. First used in English by John Oliven in 1965, the term had acquired its current senses by the 1990s (by which time it had also largely displaced the earlier term transsexual; see usage notes).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /t?ænz?d??nd?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t?anz?d??nd?/
• Rhymes: -?nd?(?)

Adjective

transgender (not comparable)

1. (strictly) Having a gender (identity) which is different from the sex one was assigned at birth: being assigned male at birth but having a female or non-binary gender or vice versa; or, pertaining to such people. (Compare transsexual, and the following sense.)
   • 2010, Jessica Green, "I'm sorry, I'm not lesbian", The Guardian, 3 Mar 2010:

     One head of a small gay charity visibly flinched when I mentioned my boyfriend and has been cold towards me ever since. I've even caught someone staring down my top to see if I'm transgender.

   • 2010, Natasha Lennard, "City Room", New York Times, 7 Apr 2010:

     But the inclusion of the word “trannie” — a pejorative, in some circles — in the title, and the film’s parodic representation of transgender women, has offended many people.

2. (broadly) Not identifying with culturally conventional gender roles and categories of male or female; having changed gender identity from male to female or female to male, or identifying with elements of both, or having some other gender identity; or, pertaining to such people. (Compare genderqueer, transsexual.)
   • 1998, John Cloud, "Trans across America", Time, 20 Feb 1998:

     Their first step was to reclaim the power to name themselves: transgender is now the term most widely used, and it encompasses everyone from cross-dressers (those who dress in clothes of the opposite sex) to transsexuals (those who surgically "correct" their genitals to match their "real" gender).

3. (of a space) Intended primarily for transgender people.
   • 2001, Walter O. Bockting, Sheila Kirk, Transgender and HIV: Risks, Prevention, and Care, page 46:

     In Boston, no AIDS prevention messages are posted at the primary drag queen and transgender bar.
4. (of a space) Available for use by transgender people (in addition to non-transgender people).
   • 2002 October 2, Boston Globe, Group wants transgender bathrooms for UMASS, quoted in 2010, Sheila L. Cavanagh, Queering Bathrooms ?ISBN
   • 2010, Harvey Molotch, Laura Noren, Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing, page 199:

     Why the sudden outcry for transgender bathrooms?

   • 2013, William Keith, Christian O. Lundberg, Public Speaking: Choice and Responsibility:

     In contrast, in a democratic conversation or dialogue, the speaker would begin by identifying the larger public issues that connect to the availability of transgender bathrooms: equality, civil rights, […]

Usage notes

• The term transgender was coined in 1965 and popularized in the late 1970s, and by the 1990s it had largely displaced the older, narrower term transsexual. Transsexual is now often considered outdated although some people still prefer it; see its entry for more. Neither term should be confused with transvestite (which see for more).
• For the usage of this word (and similar adjectives) as a noun, see below.

Hypernyms

• LGBT
• LGBT+

Hyponyms

Synonyms

• TG (abbreviated form)
• trans (abbreviated form)
• trans* (abbreviated form, broad sense)
• transgendered (uncommon, offensive)

Antonyms

• cisgender

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• Japanese: ????????? (toransujend?)

Translations

Noun

transgender (usually uncountable, plural transgenders)

1. (countable, now often offensive) A transgender person.
   • 2005, Walter Bockting & Eric Avery, Transgender Health and HIV Prevention, page 116:

     In a patriarchal society in which machismo rules, MTF transgenders represent a challenge to traditional masculinity due to their renouncing of the male position of social power.

   • 2014, Sheila Jeffreys, Gender Hurts (page 70)

     This public presentation of the mutilation of the penis is not obviously very different from the forms of disassembly of the penis engaged in by male body modifiers – particularly nullos and transgenders – on the Body Modification Ezine website.

   • 2015, Helen Davies, Transgender woman forced to move house after death threats and knife in her front door (in The Liverpool Echo)

     Nat spent years being victimised as a male to female transgender but was too scared to report it.

2. (uncountable, rare) Transgenderism; the state of being transgender. (Compare transsex.)
   • 2007, Alison Stone, An Introduction to Feminist Philosophy ?ISBN, page 41

     Before we can answer this question, we need to consider two other phenomena – transsex and transgender – which also expose the muddle within conventional categories of sex.

Usage notes

• In Western countries, many transgender people consider the use of transgender (and similar adjectives) as a noun to be offensive, and several guides advise against such usage. "A transgender man" (for a man who was assigned the female sex at birth) or "a transgender woman" (for the reverse) is frequently more appropriate.

Hypernyms

• LGBT

Coordinate terms

• two-spirit, berdache
• hijra

Translations

Verb

transgender (third-person singular simple present transgenders, present participle transgendering, simple past and past participle transgendered)

1. (uncommon) To change the gender of; (used loosely) to change the sex of. (Compare transsex.)
   • 2005, Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, Jyl J. Josephson, Gender and American Politics ?ISBN, pages 15 and 205:

     […] and one that is still dominated by male nominees, women nominees might be seen as either contributing to the regendering, or the transgendering, of the Cabinet.

     […]

     This chapter examines women secretaries-designate in terms of their contributions to regendering or transgendering a cabinet office, to a gender desegregation or integration of the cabinet.

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:transgender.

Usage notes

• In Western countries, many transgender people consider the use of transgender (and similar adjectives) as a verb in reference to transgender individuals to be offensive, much the same as its use as a noun. "A transgender man" (for a man who was assigned the female sex at birth) or "a transgender woman" (for a woman who was assigned the male sex at birth) is frequently more appropriate.

Related terms

See also

• LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA
• crossdress; drag
• SRS
• intersex
• acault
• sworn virgin

References

Afrikaans

Adjective

transgender

1. transgender

Dutch

Etymology

From English transgender. See also gender.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tr?ns.??n.d?r/, /?tr?ns.d??n.d?r/

Adjective

transgender (invariable, not comparable)

1. transgender

See also

• transseksueel