-ess

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

-ess1 suffix forming sbs. denoting female persons and animals — (O)F. -esse :- Rom. *-essa, for late L. -issa — Gr. -issa.

The suffix became generalized for the formation of fem. derivs. of masc. sbs., e.g. F. comtesse (f. comte), whence Eng. countess, and similarly duchess, hostess, lioness, mistress, princess. In OF. -esse was added to mascs. in -ere, -eor, e.g. enchanteresse enchantress; so in ME. -ess was added to agent-nouns in -er and -ster, as huntress, seamstress, songstress, contraction taking place where possible; the older †governeresse was reduced to governess; there are several cases of sbs. in -tor with fems. in -tress (e.g. actress, benefactress, traitress), with the result that this ending corr. to F. -trice, L. -trix. There was gen. extension to other kinds of sb., as authoress, goddess, mayoress, poetess, prioress, for some of which, however, there are F. models.

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T. F. HOAD. "-ess." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ess." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ess.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ess." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ess.html

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