News1 min ago
Male / Female words
11 Answers
Don't really know how to say this so will give examples:
Male word - Actor - female Actress.
with most words, you add something to make it female.
Apart from Widow, are thre any female words? - ie you add something to Widow (er) to make it male
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They aren't related words, but ladyboy is a word, the base of which - lady - is a female word. You have to add boy to it to make it male.
Shemale also - she is a female word, add male and you have turned it into a male word. Shemale doubly so, as you also have the suffix -emale, which, y'know, comes from female or whatever, so I suppose in a way you are adding letters to that suffix.
One that always amuses me - though it does not fit the pattern you are looking for, Vic - is the name given to a male nurse qualified in midwifery. He's not a midman...or even a midhusband...but still a midwife!
(As a matter of interest, 'TOED' does list 'shemale', which has been in use in the USA for over 100 years. Neither it nor 'Chambers' mentions 'ladyboy'.)
'Chambers Dictionary' defines 'midwife'as follows:
"A woman, or occasionally a man, who assists women in childbirth."
In a long list of 'man' compounds such as 'man-eater, man-at-arms' etc, it makes no mention of 'man-midwife'.
'The Oxford English Dictionary' does mention it but says it is (quote) "now rare" and the only quotes in reference to it date to the 16/1700s...the first of these being dated 1625.
It seems, therefore, that 'man-midwife' is only an archaism. I suppose it could be making a come-back, but I have certainly never heard it used.
I don't think some people are grasping your question.
Can't think of any that fit your question, However in keeping with some of the posts - nurse - has usually been associated with females. Fiancee?fiance too is an odd one.
I always get mildly irritated by names that start of as male i.e, Bernard, Robert, Carl, George etc that become Bernardette, Roberta, Carla, Georgina - just by adding ette, a, or ina on the end.
It has got worse with names like Nigella, and Thomasina - I can't think of any girls names that become male by removing or adding letters - anyone?
I'm a little confused by the question: Your example of actor/actress doesn't demonstrate adding something to a female word to make it male (as per widow/er), rather changing the suffix.
Is the question specifically to find a word which can only be applied to a female (e.g. mother) that then requires the addition of something to make it male or do you want words that require a different suffix to make the delineation (e.g. executor/executrix - which I particularly like).
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