Gender – Are Feminine Nouns Ending with -ess the Only Proper Option for Females?

gender

When we have a specifically feminine version of a noun which ends with the -ess suffix, like in huntress, sorceress, anchoress, etc. Is it always wrong to use, like, hunter for a female hunter too or sorcerer for a female sorcerer too and so on?

Does it always work like in the emperor and empress case, where the gender is somehow clearly distinct (at least for me) ?

Best Answer

Grammar

I think the usage of these female nouns may be idiomatic. Idiomatic means that there is no firm grammar rule and you have to learn each one on a case-by-case basis.

Examples

  • huntress - "hunter" for male, "hunter" for female. The word "huntress" may exist in the dictionary, but I've never heard it used.
  • sorceress - "sorcerer" for male, "sorceress" for female.
  • anchoress - I do not know what an anchoress is. This must be a very rare word.
  • empress - "emperor" for male, "empress" for female

http://wordinfo.info/unit/4432/s:a%20suffix%20that%20forms%20nouns%20meaning%20a%20female

  • lioness - "lion" for male, "lion" or "lioness" for female
  • tigress - "tiger" for male, "tiger" for female. The word "tigress" may exist in the dictionary, but I've never heard it used.
  • heiress - "heir" for male, "heir" or "heiress" for female
  • hostess - "host" for male, "hostess" for female
  • sculptress - "sculptor" for male, "sculptor" for female. The word "sculptress" may exist in the dictionary, but I've never heard it used
  • actress - "actor" for male, "actress" for female

I think that whether or not the female -ess noun is used just depends on whether or not native speakers use that word frequently in the language. If they don't, then they use the male noun for both genders.