Learn English – Should I use “authoress” for a feminine author

grammatical-gender

Often I come across the term "female author" rather than "authoress". Which is the correct usage? "Female author" sounds wrong to me as other words that end in "-or" take a sex.

Best Answer

The term exists but it's considered "old-fashioned, sexist and patronising", as it says in my dictionary (NOAD):

-ess: suffix. Forming nouns denoting female gender.

  • ORIGIN from French -esse, via late Latin from Greek -issa.
  • USAGE The suffix -ess has been used since the Middle Ages to form nouns denoting female persons, using a neutral or a male form as the base. [...] In the late 20th century, as the role of women in society changed, some of these feminine forms became problematic and are now regarded as old-fashioned, sexist, and patronizing (e.g., poetess, authoress, editress). The ‘male’ form is increasingly being used as the ‘neutral’ form, where the gender of the person concerned is simply unspecified.

If you want a further reference also the OALD says the same thing.

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