labial

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.bi.əl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbiəl

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

• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior,‎ apical,‎ apicocoronal,‎ axial,‎ buccal,‎ buccoapical,‎ buccocervical,‎ buccogingival,‎ buccolabial,‎ buccolingual,‎ bucco-occlusal,‎ buccopalatal,‎ cervical,‎ coronal,‎ coronoapical,‎ distal,‎ distoapical,‎ distobuccal,‎ distocervical,‎ distocoronal,‎ distofacial,‎ distogingival,‎ distoincisal,‎ distolingual,‎ disto-occlusal,‎ distoclusal,‎ distocclusal,‎ distopalatal,‎ facial,‎ gingival,‎ incisal,‎ incisocervical,‎ inferior,‎ labial,‎ lingual,‎ linguobuccal,‎ linguo-occlusal,‎ mandibular,‎ maxillary,‎ mesial,‎ mesioapical,‎ mesiobuccal,‎ mesiocervical,‎ mesiocoronal,‎ mesiodistal,‎ mesiofacial,‎ mesioincisal,‎ mesiogingival,‎ mesiolingual,‎ mesio-occlusal,‎ mesioclusal,‎ mesiocclusal,‎ mesiopalatal,‎ occlusal,‎ palatal,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ superior,‎ vestibular ^{(Category: en:Dentistry) [edit]}

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. […], volumes (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.

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

• abilla, ballia

Borrowed from French la bière.

labial (no plural)

1. beer

• Laurent, New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues

Borrowed from Medieval Latin labiālis.

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

labial m or f (masculine and feminine plural labials)

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

• bilabial
• labialitzar

• llavi

labial f (plural labials)

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

• “labial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “labial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “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.

From Latin labium + -al.

• IPA^(key): /la.bjal/

• Audio

  (file)

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

1. (phonetics, phonology) labial

• bilabial

• labio-vélaire

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

From Medieval Latin labiālis.

labial m or f (plural labiais)

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

• bilabial
• labializar

• labio

labial f (plural labiais)

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

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

From Medieval Latin labiālis.

• IPA^(key): /laˈbi̯aːl/

• Audio

  (file)

labial (strong nominative masculine singular labialer, not comparable)

1. labial

• bilabial

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis.

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

labial m or f (plural labiais)

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

• bilabial
• labializar

• lábio

labial f (plural labiais)

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

• “labial” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Borrowed from French labial.

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

1. labial

Borrowed from Medieval Latin labiālis.

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

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)

labial f (plural labiales)

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

• “labial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014