-esse

French -esse, from Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛsə]

-esse

1. -ess (female)
2. -ness

• -ske
• -inde

From Middle Dutch -esse, borrowed from Old Northern French -esse, from Late Latin -issa (as in abbātissa (“abbess”)).^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.sə/

-esse

1. creates the female form of some persons or occupations, as English -ess

   secretaris (“secretary, receptionist”) – secretaresse (“female secretary, female receptionist”)

• IPA^(key): /ɛs/

Inherited from Old French -ece, from Latin -itia. The modern spelling is due to a phonetic merger with etymology 2; see below. Related to -ise.

-esse f (plural -esses)

2. used to form nouns describing the condition of being something (-ness, -ity, etc.)

Inherited from Middle French -esse, from Old French -esse, from Late Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).

-esse f (plural -esses)

2. -ess (female equivalent)
4. -ess (wife of)

• IPA^(key): /ˈes.se/
• Rhymes: -esse
• Hyphenation: -és‧se

-esse (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. suffix forming the third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of -ere verbs

• sese

From Old French -esse from Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).

• -es, -ess, -asse, -as, -eyse, -eys, -eis, -isse, -ysse, -iss, -yss, -ys, -is

-esse

2. Denotes a female form of otherwise male nouns denoting beings or persons.

• Terms suffixed in -er/-ere/-our have -esse added to the suffixed form, creating a pseudo-suffix -eresse, as in huntere (“hunter, huntsman”):hunteresse (“huntress”); this is partially a reinterpretation of Old French -eriz, from Latin -ātrīcem; compare French -eresse. The seeming exception sorceresse (not *sorcereresse) is built from Anglo-Norman sorcer (“sorcerer”), not sorcerere, which postdates sorceresse.

• -en (displaced)

• English: -ess

• “-esse, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 24 June 2018.

-esse

1. alternative form of -yssh

Inherited from Old French -ece, from Latin -itia. The modern spelling is due to a phonetic merger with etymology 2; see below. Related to -ise.

-esse

2. used to form nouns describing the condition of being something (-ness, -ity, etc.)

• French: -esse

Inherited from Old French -esse, from Late Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).

-esse

2. -ess (used to form feminine nouns from masculine ones)

• French: -esse