Sapphic
pronunciation
How to pronounce Sapphic in British English:
UK ['sæfɪk]
How to pronounce Sapphic in American English:
US ['sæfɪk]
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- Adjective:
- a meter used by Sappho and named after her
- of female homosexuality
Word Origin
- Sapphic (adj.)
- c. 1500, "of or pertaining to Sappho," from French saphique, from Latin Sapphicus, from Greek Sapphikos "of Sappho," in reference to Sappho, poetess of the isle of Lesbos c. 600 B.C.E. Especially in reference to her characteristic meter; sense of "pertaining to sexual relations between women" is from 1890s (compare lesbian).
Example
- 1. I had a suspicion the sister was sapphic .
- 2. " I 've figured it out ! I am a lesbian ! " I exclaimed to my other sapphic friends .
- 3. Perhaps it was a deliberate plan to preserve the sapphic verse from censors , or perhaps it was simply scrap like newspapers today .
- 4. Very little of the actual poetry remains , sadly , and although there were reputedly nine volumes of sapphic verse , only one full poem and a handful of almost complete ones have survived .