Foreign suffixes. Unaltered and little used.
(1) Those belonging to borrowed words, as czarina, señorita, executrix, donna. These are attached to foreign words, and are never used for words recognized as English.
Slightly changed and widely used.
(2) That regarded as the standard or regular termination of the feminine, -ess (French esse, Low Latin issa), the one most used. The corresponding masculine may have the ending -er (-or), but in most cases it has not. Whenever we adopt a new masculine word, the feminine is formed by adding this termination -ess.
Sometimes the -ess has been added to a word already feminine by the ending -ster; as seam-str-ess, song-str-ess. The ending -ster had then lost its force as a feminine suffix; it has none now in the words huckster, gamester, trickster, punster.
Ending of masculine not changed.
30. The ending -ess is added to many words without changing the ending of the masculine; as,—
- baron—baroness
- count—countess
- lion—lioness
- Jew—Jewess
- heir—heiress
- host—hostess
- priest—priestess
- giant—giantess
Masculine ending dropped.
The masculine ending may be dropped before the feminine -ess is added; as,—