-trix

See also: Trix

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin -trīx, -trīcis.^[1]

Pronunciation

enPR: -trĭks
(Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, Australia, Scotland) IPA^(key): /-tɹɪks/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /-tɹəks/
(India) IPA^(key): /-ʈɹɪks/
Rhymes: -ɪks
Hyphenation: -trix

Suffix

-trix (noun-forming suffix, plural -trices or -trixes)

(dated, plural usually -trices) Found on the end of words, chiefly female agent nouns.
(BDSM, plural usually -trixes) Forms nouns defining women who engage in specific forms of sexual dominance (by analogy with dominatrix)

Usage notes

For masculine agent nouns ending in -tor, the feminine equivalent ending in -trix is the etymologically consistent form. However, -trix is relatively dated and not particularly productive in modern English, where either gender-neutral terms or other suffixes (notably -ess) are generally preferred, as in actress rather than dated actrix.

Synonyms

Other feminine affixes:

Derived terms

Most of these derived terms were borrowed directly from Latin, rather than formed in English.

English terms suffixed with -trix

References

^ “-trix, suffix”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Latin

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Italic *-trīks, from Proto-Indo-European *-trih₂, from *-tḗr + *-ih₂. Cognate with the Sanskrit suffix -त्री (-trī) as in जनित्री (janitrī, “mother”); compare genetrīx. By surface analysis, -tor +‎ -īx.

The origin of the medial -c- is unknown. Compare Proto-Slavic *-ica with the same element, and also with secondary thematicization.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [triːks]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [triks]
Hyphenation: -trīx

Suffix

-trīx f (genitive -trīcis, masculine -tor); third declension

-ess, -ress, -trix; attached to verb stems to form feminine agent nouns
(often poetic or derogatory) Attached to verb stems to form feminine adjectives, often with a poetic quality and/or a negative connotation

Usage notes

The suffix -trīx forms feminine agent nouns from verbs. Its masculine counterpart is -tor. Most feminine agent nouns use the same verb stem as the supine, perfect passive participle, or future active participle, and can be derived from the verb's fourth principal part by replacing -tus/-tum with -trīx:

cantrīx (“female singer”), the feminine counterpart of cantor (“male singer”), from canō (“to sing”) (fourth principal part cantum).

However, some show other differences in the stem:

meretrīx (“prostitute", lit. "she who earns”), from mereō (“to merit, deserve, earn”) (fourth principal part meritum)

If the fourth principal part ends in -sus/-sum or -ssus/-ssum, the prevailing pattern is to replace these endings with -strīx:^{[n 1]}

tōnstrīx (“female hair cutter”); feminine counterpart of tōnsor (“male hair cutter”), from tondeō (“to shear, shave”) (fourth principal part tonsum)

possestrīx (“female possessor”), feminine counterpart of possessor, from possideō (“to possess”) (fourth principal part possessum)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	-trīx	-trīcēs
genitive	-trīcis	-trīcum
dative	-trīcī	-trīcibus
accusative	-trīcem	-trīcēs
ablative	-trīce	-trīcibus
vocative	-trīx	-trīcēs

Derived terms

Latin terms suffixed with -trix

Related terms

-tor

Descendants

Catalan: -triu
English: -trix, -tress, -ess (partially)
French: -trice
Italian: -trice
Portuguese: -triz
Sicilian: -trici
Spanish: -triz

Notes

^ Examples are relatively rare. As an alternative, the grammarian Charisius advocates for using forms in -srix or -ssrix instead (tonsrix, fossrix, cursrix).^[1] However, there is no evidence that formations in -(s)srix were ever in common use, and the grammarian Priscian states that even though forms in -srix or -ssrix might be expected, euphony in fact forbids their use and requires the insertion of -t-.

References

^ Heinrich Keil (1857), Grammatici Latini / Vol. 1 Flavii Sosipatri Charisii Artis Grammaticae Libri V. Ex recensione Henrici Keilii, volume 1, →OCLC, page 44: “Verum observandum est, quod or litteris in ultimo terminata masculina, si per verba nascuntur, una littera in femininum adcrescunt, ut venator venatrix, victor victrix, tonsor tonsrix, non tonstrix; duabus enim litteris plus efficiet: fossor fossrix, cursor cursrix.”

[1] “-trix, suffix”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

[3] Examples are relatively rare. As an alternative, the grammarian Charisius advocates for using forms in -srix or -ssrix instead (tonsrix, fossrix, cursrix).^[1] However, there is no evidence that formations in -(s)srix were ever in common use, and the grammarian Priscian states that even though forms in -srix or -ssrix might be expected, euphony in fact forbids their use and requires the insertion of -t-.

[2] Heinrich Keil (1857), Grammatici Latini / Vol. 1 Flavii Sosipatri Charisii Artis Grammaticae Libri V. Ex recensione Henrici Keilii, volume 1, →OCLC, page 44: “Verum observandum est, quod or litteris in ultimo terminata masculina, si per verba nascuntur, una littera in femininum adcrescunt, ut venator venatrix, victor victrix, tonsor tonsrix, non tonstrix; duabus enim litteris plus efficiet: fossor fossrix, cursor cursrix.”

[1]

[n 1]

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