English Grammar: Masculine and

Feminine Nouns -- Gender

Video: Gender of Nouns

Help for students of English

There are two genders properly so called: Masculine and Feminine. The distinction of male
and female in nature is called sex. The distinction between Masculine and Feminine in words
is called Gender.

Note. The word Gender comes from the Latin word genus, generis, a sort or kind.

The English language, unlike most others, applies the distinction of Masculine and Feminine
only to the names of persons and animals: man, woman; boy, girl; lion, lioness. Nouns which
denote things without animal life are said to be Neuter or of Neuter Gender, from the Latin
word neuter, neither (i.e, neither masculine nor feminine) : iron, stone, river. The only
exception to this rule is when inanimate things are represented as persons.

Note. Collective Nouns are Neuter though denoting collections of male or female objects:
army, committee, sisterhood.

When the same name is used for male and female, it is said to be Common or of Common
Gender : bird, fish, parent, sovereign, friend. There are three ways of indicating difference of
Gender in Nouns:-

1. By inflexion.*
2. By using a word indicative of sex.
3. By distinct words.

* INFLEXION [Latin, inflecto, flexi, flexum, to bend or change] means some addition to, or
change in, a word to denote a modification of meaning. The inflexional changes of words are
explained in connexion with their classification

THE GENDER DISTINGUISHED BY INFLEXION.

1. The feminine is usually distinguished from the masculine by the ending -ess :

Masculine. Feminine. Masculine. Feminine.

abbot abbess lion lioness
actor actress benefactor benefactress
adulterer adulteress negro negress
master mistress canon canoness
author authoress (or author) patron patroness
mayor mayoress count countess
duke duchess1 peer peeress
monitor monitress dauphin dauphiness
baron baroness poet poetess (or poet)
marquis marchioness2 deacon deaconess
murderer murderess proprietor proprietress (-trix)
enchanter enchantress preceptor preceptress
prophet prophetess protector protectress
god goddess prior prioress
emperor empress giant giantess
founder foundress heir heiress
governor governess shepherd shepherdess
seamster sempstress3 hunter huntress
host hostess priest priestess
elector electress songster songstress3
sorcerer sorceress instructor instructress
tiger tigress inventor inventress
traitor traitress Jew Jewess
viscount viscountess

NOTES. -The ending -ess comes through the French from the Latin ending -ix. (See below,
2.)
1 Duchess is from Fr. duchesse.
2 Marchioness from late Latin marchio, marchionissa.
3 Sempstress (seamstress) and songstress, see below, No. 2 '3).

Note. Many feminine forms besides the above are occasionally to be met with, especially in
our older authors: victoress, or victress (Spenser, Shakspeare, Jonson) offendress
(Shakspeare) tyranness (Akenside). But the present tendency of the language is to reduce the
number of such words by using the masculine form as common, as in the case of author, poet,
elector (except when used as a sovereign title). In the case of official titles the feminine form
is carefully preserved. Governor = ruler is common : governess == instructress.

2. A few isolated instances of other feminine endings occur:-

(1.) -trix, in a few Nouns taken directly from the Latin: as,-

Masculine Feminine

administrator administratrix
executor executrix
testator testatrix

(2.) -en, an old feminine suffix of which only one pure English example remains : vix-en (0.
E. fixen ; Germ. fuchsin), she-fox; hence, a spiteful woman.

To this head belong also-

Masculine Feminine
hero heroine (Greek)
landgrave landgravine (German)
margrave margravine (German)
comedian comedienne (French)

Note. Land-gravine, Mar-gravine: German -grafin. The suffixes -en, -in, -ine, are Identical in
origin.

(3.) -ster, an old English ending, of which only one example is now in use as feminine : spin-
ster-(lit.she that spins; viz. with the spinning-wheel); an unmarried woman. Also song-ster
was originally feminine, so that song-str-ess has two feminine endings. In like manner semp-
str-ess from the verb seam, has two feminine endings.

Note. But (the termination -ster came to be used as a masculine. This appears in such old
words as brewster, huckster, maltster, tapster.

(4.) -a in a few Romance words:-

Masculine Feminine
don donna (Italian)
infant infanta(Spanish)
signor signora (Italian)

So- sultan sultana

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Examples of masculine and feminine gender

of animals?
In: Nouns [Edit categories]
Answer:
In English there are no masculine or feminine forms. English uses gender specific nouns for a
male or a female. Examples of gender nouns are:

male: female
billy goat: nanny goat
boar: sow (pig, hog, bear, or badger)
buck: doe (deer, antelope, hare, or rabbit)
bull: cow (cattle, buffalo, bison, elephant, hippo, giraffe, camel, elk, moose, yak, dolphin,
whale, walrus, or alligator)
cob: pen (swan)
cock (rooster): hen (chicken, crow, dove, finch, gull, heron, hummingbird, jay, lark,
nightingale, ostrich, parrot, pigeon, squab, or quail)
dog: bitch (dog or wolf)
drake: duck (hen)
drone: queen and worker
fox (reynard or dog): vixen
gander: goose
jack: jenny (donkey)
lion: lioness
peacock: peahen
ram: ewe (sheep)
stallion: mare (horse or zebra)
tiger: tigress
tom: hen (turkey)
tomcat: queen (or cat)

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