labial

Etymology

Borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”), from labium (“a lip”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to labium +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.bi.əl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbiəl

Adjective

labial (not comparable)

1. (anatomy, zootomy) Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.

   Synonym: cheilo-

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 109:

     The wound that does not kill Christ is the magical labial wound; it is the seal of the resurrection and an expression of the myth of eternal recurrence.

2. (linguistics, phonetics) Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.

   Coordinate terms: coronal, dorsal, radical, laryngeal

3. (dentistry, of an incisor or canine) On the side facing the lips. See mesial.
4. (music) Furnished with lips.

   a labial organ pipe

Noun

labial (plural labials)

1. (linguistics, phonetics) A consonant articulated by the lips.

   Hyponyms: bilabial, labiodental

   • 1670, Francis Bacon, Sylva sylvarum : or, a natural history in ten centuries, Natural History, Century II, pp 197-98:

     The motions of the Tongue, Lips, Throat, Palate, & c. which go to the making of the ſeveral Alphabetical Letters are worthy inquiry, and pertinent to the preſent Inquiſition of Sounds: But becauſe they are ſubtil and long to deſcribe, we will refer them over, and place them amongſt the Experiments of Speech. The Hebrews have been diligent in it, and have aſſigned which Letters are Labial, which Dental, which Guttural, & c

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 47, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     You have but the same four letters to describe the salute which you perform on your grandmother’s forehead, and that which you bestow on the sacred cheek of your mistress; but the same four letters, and not one of them a labial.

   • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 578:

     Those were his first words of the voyage, and they were spoken with unstuttered labials.

2. (music) An organ pipe having a lip that influences its sound.
   • 1923, Estey Organ Company, The Philosophy of an Organ Builder, Brattleboro, VT, pages 34–35:

     All organ pipes are divided into two general classes, labial and lingual pipes. The main difference between the two classes is the manner by which the vibrations producing the sound are caused. In labial pipes the column of air entering the pipe under pressure is set in vibration by a fixed obstruction at the mount of the pipe. […] [T]he obstruction at the mouth […] causes the column of air to vibrate. In the lingual or reed pipe, the vibrations are caused by the air passing through a metal reed, which causes the tongue of the reed to vibrate, thereby setting up sympathetic vibrations in the column of air in the pipe.

3. (zootomy) Any of the scales bordering the mouth opening of a reptile.

References

• “labial”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “labial”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• abilla, ballia

Etymology

Borrowed from French la bière.

Noun

labial (no plural)

1. beer

References

• Laurent, New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin labiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [lə.βiˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [lə.biˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [la.biˈal]

Adjective

labial m or f (masculine and feminine plural labials)

1. labial (of or pertaining to the lips)
2. (phonetics) labial (articulated by the lips)

Noun

labial f (plural labials)

1. (phonetics) labial (a consonant articulated by the lips)

Further reading

• “labial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “labial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “labial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “labial” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology

From Latin labium + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.bjal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

labial (feminine labiale, masculine plural labiaux, feminine plural labiales)

1. (phonetics, phonology) labial

Further reading

• “labial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology

From Medieval Latin labiālis.

Adjective

labial m or f (plural labiais)

1. labial (of or pertaining to the lips)
2. (phonetics) labial (articulated by the lips)

Noun

labial f (plural labiais)

1. (phonetics) labial (a consonant articulated by the lips)

Further reading

• “labial”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Etymology

From Medieval Latin labiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈbi̯aːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

labial (strong nominative masculine singular labialer, not comparable)

1. labial

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch labiaal, from French labial, from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /laˈbial/ [laˈbi.al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: la‧bi‧al

Adjective

labial

1. labial:
   1. (linguistics, phonetics) articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w

Further reading

• “labial” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Etymology

From English labial, from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”), from labium (“a lip”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [le.bi.jəl]
• Rhymes: -əl
• Hyphenation: la‧bi‧al

Adjective

labial (Jawi spelling لابيال)

1. (linguistics, phonetics) Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.

   Synonym: bibir

Noun

labial (Jawi spelling لابيال, also used in the form bunyi labial)

1. (linguistics, phonetics) A labial consonant.

   Synonym: bibir

Further reading

• “labial” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: la‧bi‧al

Adjective

labial m or f (plural labiais)

1. labial (of or relating to the lips)
2. (phonetics) labial (articulated by the lips)

Noun

labial f (plural labiais)

1. (phonetics) labial (a consonant articulated by the lips)

Further reading

• “labial”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Etymology

Borrowed from French labial.

Adjective

labial m or n (feminine singular labială, masculine plural labiali, feminine and neuter plural labiale)

1. labial

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin labiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈbjal/ [laˈβ̞jal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: la‧bial

Adjective

labial m or f (masculine and feminine plural labiales)

1. (relational) lip; labial (of or relating to the lips)
2. (phonetics) labial (articulated by the lips)

Noun

labial f (plural labiales)

1. (phonetics) labial (a consonant articulated by the lips)
2. lipstick (make-up for the lips)

Further reading

• “labial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10