-trix


  1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it formed feminine nouns or adjectives corresponding to agent nouns ending in -tor (Bellatrix). On this model, -trix is used in English to form feminine nouns (aviatrix; executrix) and geometrical terms denoting straight lines (directrix).

Origin of -trix

1
From Latin -trīx, stem -trīc-

usage note For -trix

A suffix borrowed directly from Latin, -trix has been used since the 15th century on feminine agent nouns that correspond to a masculine (in Latin) or generic (in English) agent noun ending in -tor: aviator, aviatrix; legislator, legislatrix; orator, oratrix. Most nouns in -trix have dropped from general use, so that terms like aviatrix, benefactrix, legislatrix, oratrix, and proprietrix occur rarely or not at all in present-day English. The forms in -tor are applied to both men and women: Her sister is the proprietor of a new restaurant. When relevant, gender is specified with the generic term: Amelia Earhart was a pioneer woman aviator. Legal documents still use administratrix, executrix, inheritrix, and the like, but these forms too are giving way to the -tor forms. See also -enne, -ess, -ette.

Words Nearby -trix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use -trix in a sentence

  • Father is going away too, and of course I couldn't leave the mater and Trix.

    Queensland Cousins | Eleanor Luisa Haverfield
  • Girls nowadays think it chic to affect fads, but Trix is no more a 'new woman' than I am a winged saint.

    A Speckled Bird | Augusta J. Evans Wilson
  • She saw the Dowager's paint t'other day, and asked her why she wore that red stuff—didn't you, Trix?

  • Trix will never stop at home; mother's in love with you,—yes, I think mother's in love with you.

  • You can't help being handsome, Trix; no more can the Prince help following you.

British Dictionary definitions for -trix

-trix

suffix forming nouns
  1. indicating a feminine agent, corresponding to nouns ending in -tor: executrix

Origin of -trix

1
from Latin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012