-trix

See also: Trix

English

Etymology

From Latin -trīx.^[1]

Pronunciation

(General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɹɪks/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪks

Suffix

-trix f (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

From Proto-Italic *-trīks, from Proto-Indo-European *-trih₂, from *-tḗr. Cognate with the Sanskrit suffix -त्री (-trī) as in जनित्री (janitrī, “mother”); compare genetrīx.

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): [t̪riks]

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 using the following rules: replace -tus/-tum with -trīx, replace -sus/-sum or -ssus/-ssum with -strīx. Examples:

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

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)

However, some show other differences in the stem:

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

Declension

Third-declension noun.

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