Lesbianism is not a woman. It is the name for women being sexually attracted to women — the orientation, the relationships, or the fact of that love. A lesbian is the person; lesbianism is the -ism, the idea.

Lesbianismlesbianism is not a woman指的不是一個女人。It is the name for它是用來指 women being sexually attracted to women女性受女性吸引這件事—— the orientation這種性向， the relationships這種關係， or the fact of that love或這份愛本身。A lesbianlesbian is the person指的是這個人； lesbianismlesbianism is the -ism, the idea是這個-ism，指的是這個概念。

You will see it in older books, in formal writing, and in news more than in friendly talk. Many people today just say someone is a lesbian, or talk about being gay, and do not use this word at all.

You will see it你會看到這個詞 in older books在比較舊的書裡， in formal writing在正式寫作裡， and in news還有新聞裡 more than in friendly talk比較不會出現在朋友間的閒聊。Many people today現在很多人 just say someone is a lesbian就直接說某人是lesbian， or talk about being gay或是講being gay， and do not use this word at all完全不用這個詞。

It is built in a simple way: lesbian plus -ism, the ending English uses to turn a person or adjective into an idea. The rest of the history is the same as lesbian: Latin Lesbiana from the island of Lesbos, Sappho’s poems about women, and a likely push from German medical language in the 1800s.

It is built in a simple way它的組成方式很簡單： lesbian plus -ismlesbian加上-ism， the ending English uses這個字尾英文用來 to turn a person or adjective into an idea把一個人或形容詞變成一個概念。The rest of the history剩下的歷史 is the same as lesbian跟lesbian這個字一樣： Latin Lesbiana拉丁文Lesbiana from the island of Lesbos來自Lesbos這座島， Sappho's poems about women女詩人莎孚寫給女性的詩， and a likely push from German medical language in the 1800s加上十九世紀德國醫學用語很可能推了一把。

A dictionary line that makes this word sound like it means “a woman” has mixed it up with lesbian.

A dictionary line如果字典的說明 that makes this word sound like it means "a woman"讓這個詞聽起來像是在指「一個女人」 has mixed it up with lesbian那就是把它跟lesbian搞混了。