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neotoma ([personal profile] neotoma) wrote2006-08-25 10:38 am
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Feminine words for occupations...

English is a weird language. There are feminine words for some occupations, though they're so archaic that they are mainly used for surnames now.

The ones I can come up with easily are:

webster -- weaver
baxter -- baker
brewster -- brewer
spinster -- spinner

Are there others?

ETA: I was thinking about words with the -ster construction, though words with the -ess construction are equally valid.
twistedchick: watercolor painting of coffee cup on wood table (Default)

[personal profile] twistedchick 2006-08-25 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Sort of (but not really) like baxter is aviatrix, which was what Amelia Earhart was called.

[identity profile] neotoma.livejournal.com 2006-08-25 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Right. Lots of ways to get feminine words. -ster is Old English (Anglo-Saxon?), -trix is Latin.

I can make *lots* of words using Latin, some of them quite filthy. ;)