-ess
-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.
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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