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It is a suffix to specify that a person is a female person doing a job. A person may have the job of a steward; a female person doing that job is called a stewardess. A person who sews is a seamster (usually shortened to semptster); a female person doing that job is a seamstress. A person who does laundry is a launderer; a woman who does it is a laundress. A person who acts is an actor; a female person doing that job is an actress. And so on.

By extension, if a form with the -ess suffix is current, the root form is restricted to male persons.

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11y ago
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15y ago

it is one of the plural suffixes. It is added when the word ends with a 's' sound.

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Q: What is the meaning of the suffix ess?
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What is the suffix for a female lion?

The suffix for a female lion is "-ess." So a female lion can be called a lioness.


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The suffix for "lion" is "-ess" to refer to a female lion, such as lioness. For "host," the suffix would be "-ess" as well, to indicate a female host.


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A suffix for the two words would be 'ess' for lioness and stewardess.


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"-ess" is the English equivalent of -trix.Specifically, the Latin letters -trix constitute a suffix. They spell the feminine ending which replaces the masculine ending -tor in occupational and professional nouns in Latin. The equivalent action in English will involve replacing the masculine ending "-or" with the femining suffix "-ess".