Feminine words for occupations...

[neotoma]

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.

Comments

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

You are right, though I was thinking more about words that have the -ster construction.

[clara-swift.livejournal.com]

I wonder how spinster came to be the word for an old, unmarried lady.

Ah, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinster) just explained!!!

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Industrialization lead to some strange language shifts, didn't it?

[mofic.livejournal.com]

Oh, well then I do think you're right that there aren't any that are used that way now. Really, of the ones you mentioned, only "spinster" is used at all in modern parlance, and it's not used for that meaning.

"Seamstress" is not a new word, but it's the newer form of "seamster". Once "ster" ceased to be the ending for "woman who", and "ess" became more common for female jobs, it morphed.

I actually think in current parlance "ster" has a masculine connotation because of the ending of "mister". Kids use that ending to mean "expert at" sometimes, but without the female connotation at all.