|
|
March 2006Just Foolin' AroundYou can take note of Women's History Month by researching some of the dozens of terms that refer to female versions of male titles, such as danseuse, administratrix, and interlocutress. To get started, select the Unabridged as your reference and click on Advanced Search. Type woman in Definition, feminine in Etymology, and noun in Function; then click Search. Read on to see the results. The 76 results range from abbess to witch. Here is a sampling: alumna, archduchess, chanteuse, entrepreneuse, executrix, muchacha, restauratrice, and vinandiere. Now do the same search again but substitute female for woman in the Definition field, and you get 69 more results, including accusatrix, administratrix, coiffeuse, danseuse, interlocutress, progenitrix, raconteuse, and testatrix. In addition to the labels for women, these searches yield a few other, more offbeat terms, such as chinela, devi, malkin, and pelisse. |