Ways of forming the feminine gender
There are three ways of forming the feminine gender.
1) By using an entirely different word.
- Bachelor (masculine) / spinster or maid (feminine)
- Boy / girl
- Man / woman
- Husband / wife
- Father / mother
- Brother / sister
- Son / daughter
- Horse / mare
- Monk / nun
- Buck / doe
- King / queen
- Cock / hen
- Dog / bitch
- Drake / duck
- Earl / countess
- Gander / geese
- Gentleman / lady
- Nephew / niece
- Uncle / aunt
2) By adding a syllable (-ess, -ine, -trix etc) to the masculine gender
- Author (masculine) / authoress (feminine)
- Baron / baroness
- Count / countess
- Giant / giantess
- Heir / heiress
- Host / hostess
- Lion / lioness
- Mayor / mayoress
- Poet / poetess
- Priest / priestess
In the following -ess is added after dropping the vowel of the masculine ending.
- Actor (masculine) / actress (feminine)
- Enchanter / enchantress
- Duke / duchess
- Emperor / empress
- Prince / princess
- Tiger / tigress
- Waiter / waitress
- Master / mistress
- Sorcerer / sorceress
3) By placing a word before or after
- Grandfather / grandmother
- Manservant / maidservant
- Landlord / landlady
- Peacock / peahen
- Salesman / saleswoman
- Washerman / washerwoman
Notes
A mayor can be a man or a woman. In British English, a mayoress is the wife of a male mayor.
Some words ending in -ess are no longer used.
Examples are: authoress and poetess. Author and poet are now used for both men and women.
The words steward and stewardess are being replaced by other terms like flight attendant. Note that a flight attendant can be a man or a woman.
