sap·pho \ˈsaˌfō\noun Etymology: New Latin, after Sappho fl ab 600 B.C. Greek lyric poetess, from Latin, from Greek Sapphō 1.capitalized: a genus of hummingbirds comprising a single So. American showy bird (S. sparganura) with a forked tail 2.alsosappho comet-susually capitalized S: any hummingbird of the genus Sappho