Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

-ess

-ess

[Old French -esse, Late Latin -issa, Greek {not transcribed}.]

A suffix used to form feminine nouns; as, actress, deaconess, songstress.

Text from the public-domain GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English, derived from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913). Definitions marked with were added by later GCIDE contributors and are not in the original 1913 edition.

Enjoying the dictionary? Support its upkeep.

Contribute on GitHub, or report issues.