*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of LGBT

Initialism of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or transsexual, derived from earlier LGB. Attested since 1988. Used as a self-designation in United States gay rights activism since about 1990.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

A member of the LGBT community. · A sandwich named after the sexuality-gender term, composed of lettuce, guacamole or avocado, bacon, tomato. A variant of the BLT.

adj

Being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or relating to these groups as a collective.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Initialism of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or transsexual, derived from earlier LGB. Attested since 1988. Used as a self-designation in United States gay rights activism since about 1990.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or transsexual"
      },
      "expansion": "Initialism of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or transsexual"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "lesbian",
      "lesbian#English"
    ],
    [
      "gay",
      "gay#English"
    ],
    [
      "bisexual",
      "bisexual#English"
    ],
    [
      "transgender",
      "transgender#English"
    ],
    [
      "transsexual",
      "transsexual#English"
    ],
    [
      "LGB",
      "LGB#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A member of the LGBT community.",
        "A sandwich named after the sexuality-gender term, composed of lettuce, guacamole or avocado, bacon, tomato. A variant of the BLT."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "in-plural",
        "nonstandard"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 294916
    },
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or relating to these groups as a collective."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
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      "rawRecordSha256": "06394e153f1aa94e63a0ce0b4aa969ceed9602ae645c5ba635d7d9cf6f4d2636",
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    }
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for LGBT →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-TEdCVA