Etymology

-ess

Today it means: Used to form female equivalents. Full definition →

Middle English -esse ← Old French -esse ← Late Latin -issa
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-ess · suffix1

  1. Ancient Greek · derived from-ισσα
  2. Late Latin · derived from-issa
  3. Old French · derived from-esse
  4. Middle English · inherited from-esse
  5. English today-ess

From Middle English -esse, borrowed from Old French -esse, from Late Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa). Displaced Old English -en (feminine suffix of nouns).

-ess · suffix2

  1. Latin · derived from-itia
  2. Old French · derived from-esse
  3. English today-ess

From Old French -esse, from Latin -itia.

-ess · suffix3

  1. Middle English · inherited from-eis
  2. English today-ess

From Middle English -eis, a borrowing from Old French -eis, a locative suffix descended from Latin -ensis. The French and Middle English suffixes created nouns describing a freeman of a fortified town, but in Modern English this is found only in proper nouns, particularly in certain surnames. Cognates include Italian -ese, and English English -ese is a doublet.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.