What Does the Term Sapphic Mean?

Last updated on August 30, 2024 by Isabella Claire

The term “sapphic” originates from the name of the Greek poet Sappho, who was known for her lyrical poetry and focus on love between women. Sapphic meaning has evolved over time and now encompasses a broader range of sexual orientations and gender identities. At its core, sapphic can refer to lesbians, bisexuals, and pansexual individuals, including trans femmes, mascs, nonbinary people, and cis women, as long as the term resonates with them.

Sapphic Meaning and Origin

Key Takeaways

  • Sapphic refers to romantic or sexual attraction between women, often used to describe relationships or identities involving women who love women, including lesbians and bisexual women.
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Sapphic Meaning – Created by 7ESL

What Does Sapphic Mean?

Sapphic is an umbrella term that refers to women or woman-aligned individuals who are attracted to other women and/or women-aligned people. This term can be used for people regardless of their sexual orientation, encompassing lesbians, bisexual women, and even queer women. Sapphic individuals may experience attraction, love, sexual desire, romance, community, friendship, companionship, inspiration, and creativity through a similar lens.

Origin of Sapphic

The term Sapphic is derived from the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who lived on the Isle of Lesbos. Sappho’s poems often focused on love and desire between women, and her name and the island’s name have become synonymous with lesbian women and relationships. As a result, the term Sapphic came to be used as an adjective and as a noun encompassing topics and ideas related to women who are attracted to other women.

Related Terms to Sapphic

  • Lesbian: A woman who is exclusively attracted to other women.
  • Ally: An individual who supports and advocates for the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ people, even if they do not identify as a part of the community themselves.
  • Bisexual: A person who is attracted to individuals of their own gender as well as another gender.
  • Queer: Historically a derogatory term but now often embraced as an umbrella term, encompassing various sexual orientations and gender identities. It can sometimes be used to replace more specific terms such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
  • Pansexuals: Pansexual sapphic individuals have the capacity for attraction to all genders, but may specifically emphasize their connections with women and woman-aligned people.
  • WLW (Women Loving Women) – An inclusive term used to describe women who are attracted to women, regardless of specific labels or identities
  • Femme – A term used to describe a person, typically a woman, who expresses femininity and may be in a relationship with another woman.
  • Butch – A term used to describe a person, often a woman, who expresses a more masculine style or behavior and may be in a relationship with another woman.
  • Homoromantic – Someone who is romantically attracted to people of the same gender; a woman who is homoromantic may identify as Sapphic.
  • Non-binary WLW – Non-binary people who are attracted to women, or who feel a connection to Sapphic identity despite not identifying strictly as a woman.
  • LGBTQ+ – An umbrella term for the diverse community that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-cishet identities.
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