2d. By different words in the compound names.
3d. By using words wholly or radically different.
Ess is the most common ending for feminine nouns. [Footnote: The suffix ess came into the English language from the Norman-French. It displaced the feminine termination of the mother-tongue (A. S. estre, old English ster). The original meaning of ster is preserved in spinster. Er (A. S. ere) was originally a masculine suffix; but it now generally denotes an agent without reference to sex; as, read-er, speak-er.]
+Direction+.—Form the feminine of each of the following masculine nouns by adding e s s :—
Author, baron, count, deacon, giant, god (see Rule 3, Lesson 127), heir, host, Jew, lion, patron, poet, prince (see Rule 1, Lesson 127), prior, prophet, shepherd, tailor, tutor.
(Drop the vowel e or o in the ending of the masculine, and add ess.)
Actor, ambassador, arbiter, benefactor, conductor, director, editor, enchanter, hunter, idolater, instructor, preceptor, tiger, waiter.
(Drop the masculine er or or, and add the feminine ess.)
Adventurer, caterer, governor, murderer, sorcerer.
(The following are somewhat irregular.)