-essa
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old Catalan -essa, from Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-essa f (noun-forming suffix, plural -esses)
- -ess (female)
Usage notes edit
- This suffix is non-productive in modern Catalan, with either the usual feminine termination -a being employed, or the noun having a single form for both genders.
Derived terms edit
Finnish edit
Etymology edit
The inessive singular of -e-.
Suffix edit
-essa (front vowel harmony variant -essä, linguistic notation -essA)
- Forms the inessive case of the second infinitive of verbs.
Interlingua edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from English -ess, French -esse, Italian -essa, Portuguese -esa/Spanish -esa, Russian -е́сса (-éssa) all ultimately from Latin -issa from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-essa
- forms nouns from nouns, denoting a female; -ess
Derived terms edit
References edit
- Alexander Gode, Hugh E. Blair (1955) Interlingua: A Grammar of the International Language, →ISBN
Italian edit
Etymology edit
From Latin -issa, from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa).
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-essa
Usage notes edit
- Mostly used to form the feminine of animate nouns. e.g. barone => baronessa
- Sometimes used ironically or in a disparaging manner. e.g. medico => medichessa