labial
/ˈleɪ.bi.əl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.40 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
adj
Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.
adj
On the side facing the lips. See mesial.
noun
A consonant articulated by the lips.
noun
An organ pipe having a lip that influences its sound.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "a labial organ pipe"
- "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"
- "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."
- "Those were his first words of the voyage, and they were spoken with unstuttered labials."
- "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."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *leb- Proto-Indo-European *l̥b-yómder. Proto-Italic *labjom Latin labium Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Medieval Latin labiālisbor. English labial Borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”), from labium (“a lip”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, labi(um) + -al.
Word Breakdown
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
labial-alveolar consonant
labial artery
labial consonant
labial geyser
labial-palatal approximant
labial-palatal consonant
labial pipe