Meanings
-ess1
plural -esses
- Used to form female equivalents.
god + -ess → goddess
5 more examples
actor + -ess → actress
chanter + -ess → chantress
duke + -ess → duchess (“female ruler of a duchy”)
lion + -ess → lioness
prince + -ess → princess (“daughter of monarch (holding this title in her own right, who would become a queen regnant); the female equivalent of a prince”)
Synonyms: -a, -ette, -ine, -ress, she-, -trix · Antonyms: he-
- The wife of.
duke + -ess → duchess (“duke’s wife”)
5 more examples
alderman + -ess → aldermaness (“alderman’s wife”)
mayor + -ess → mayoress (“mayor’s wife”)
priest + -ess → priestess (“priest’s wife”)
prince + -ess → princess (“prince’s wife (who would become a queen consort)”)
squire + -ess → squiress (“squire’s wife”)
-ess2
- idiomaticUsed to form nouns from adjectives.
-ess3
- idiomaticUsed to form proper nouns from nouns.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
-ess · suffix
- Ancient Greek-ισσα
- Late Latin-issa
- Old French-esse
- Middle English-esse
- English-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).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →-ess · suffix
- Latin-itia
- Old French-esse
- English-ess
From Old French -esse, from Latin -itia.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →-ess · suffix
- Middle English-eis
- English-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.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek -ῐσσᾰ
- -ῐσσᾰ (-ĭssă)female suffix
Arabic ـَة
- ـَة (-a)female suffix
Bengali -ঈ, -ইনী
- -ঈfemale suffix
- -ইনী (-ini)female suffix
- -নী (-ni)female suffix
- -আ (-a)female suffix
Chinese Mandarin 女-, 母-
- 女- (nǚ-)female suffix
- 母- (mǔ-)female suffix
Danish -inde
- -indefemale suffix
Dutch -in, -esse
- -infemale suffix
- -essefemale suffix
Esperanto -ino
- -inofemale suffix
Finnish -tar, -tär
- -tarfemale suffix
- -tärfemale suffix
French -esse, -euse
- -essefemale suffix
- -eusefemale suffix
- -efemale suffix
German -in (-trix f, -öse f)
- -in (-trix f, -öse f)female suffix
Greek -ισσα
- -ισσα (-issa)female suffix
Hebrew ־ה, ־ית
- ־ה (-a)female suffix
- ־ית (-it)female suffix
Hindi -नी
- -नी (-nī)female suffix
Hungarian -nő, -né
- -nőfemale suffix
- -néwife of
Irish ban-
- ban-female suffix
Italian -essa
- -essafemale suffix
Latin -trīx, -issa
- -trīxfemale suffix
- -issafemale suffix
Norwegian Bokmål -inne, -ske
- -innefemale suffix
- -skefemale suffix
- -essefemale suffix
Polish -ka, -owa
- -kafemale suffix
- -owawife of
Portuguese -a, -esa
- -afemale suffix
- -esafemale suffix
Romanian -iță, -easă
- -ițăfemale suffix
- -easăfemale suffix
Russian -ка, -ша
- -каfemale suffix
- -ша (-ša)female suffix
- -ица (-ica)female suffix
- -ница (-nica)female suffix
- -и́са (-ísa)female suffix
- -е́сса (-éssa)female suffix
- -а (-a)female suffix
- -чица (-čica)female suffix
- -иня (-inja)female suffix
- -ыня (-ynja)female suffix
- -и́ха (-íxa)female suffix
- -ья (-ʹja)female suffix
Swedish -inna, -essa
- -innafemale suffix
- -essafemale suffix
- -skafemale suffix
Ukrainian -еса
- -еса (-esa)female suffix
Welsh -es
- -esfemale suffix
Cite this entry
-ess. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ess
“-ess.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ess. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-ess,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ess.
Source: -ess on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.