-ess
a suffix forming distinctively feminine nouns:
countess; goddess; lioness.
usage note
-ess
suffix
indicating a female waitress, lioness
usage note
word origin
-ess
fem. suffix, from fr. -esse, from l.l. -issa, from gk. -issa (cognate with o.e. fem. agent suffix -icge); rare in cl-ssical gk., but more common later, in diakonissa “deaconess” and other church terms picked up by latin.
-ess
suffix
used to form nouns a woman member of the indicated group or calling •a standard
now used most often in slang partly because the standard use is regarded as, and sometimes meant to be, offensive: loaferess/ muggess/ veepess (1400s+)
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