Sapphic

[ saf-ik ]

/ ˈsæf ɪk /

pertaining to Sappho or to certain meters or a form of strophe or stanza used by or named after her.

a Sapphic verse.

Origin of Sapphic

1495–1505; < Latin sapphicus < Greek sapphikós, equivalent to Sapph(ṓ) Sappho + -ikos -ic

They would later be dubbed a “bloodthirsty” “lesbian she-wolf pack” and—most famously—“a seething, Sapphic septet.”

‘Out in the Night’ and the Redemption of the ‘Killer Lesbian Gang' |Nina Strochlic |June 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
No doubt she's sitting in her sapphic palace cackling on her money.

Newcomers Invade Emmys |Choire Sicha |August 30, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
The game has a long history in media and popular culture, and its depictions have hardly all been Sapphic.

Softball’s Not Just for Lesbians! |Rebecca Dana |May 19, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
She never summered in soft Sapphic seas, nor hankered after poetic Leucadian promontories.

Unicorns |James Huneker

On the other hand, we can find scarcely an ode in the Sapphic or Alcaic metre, which does not clearly betray its modern origin.

The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy |Jacob Burckhardt
It may be considered introductory to his poem entitled The Church (Sapphic verse and sundry other metres).

Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama |E. Cobham Brewer
It is a good rhythmical name, fitting excellently into the middle of a lesser Sapphic strophe; why should not Sappho use it?

The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces |Joyce Kilmer
The hypnotic vibrations of the Sapphic thrill were affected by a new series, striking them in like phases.

Yellowstone Nights |Herbert Quick

Sapphic

/ (ˈsæfɪk) /

prosody denoting a metre associated with Sappho, consisting generally of a trochaic pentameter line with a dactyl in the third foot

of or relating to Sappho or her poetry

lesbian

prosody a verse, line, or stanza written in the Sapphic form