e suf

en and -ster. These remain in vixen and spinster, t

For fox they said vox; for from they said vram; and for the older word fat th

glish,[1] but have now lost their original force as feminines. The old masculin

uffixes are o

es. Unaltered

rita, executrix, donna. These are attached to foreign w

anged and w

ssa), the one most used. The corresponding masculine may have the ending -er (-or), but in most cases it

as seam-str-ess, song-str-ess. The ending -ster had then lost its force as a fem

masculine