teacheress
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English techeresse, equivalent to teacher + -ess.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌtiːt͡ʃəˈɹɛs/
Noun
teacheress (plural teacheresses)
- (archaic except India) A female teacher.
- 1858 August, a letter to Mrs. Mason, quotee, “Christians in Burmah”, in The Wesleyan Junior Offering[1]:
- The plan of the Teacheress to erect a large building for us, and to educate our daughters, pleases us exceedingly, and we send fifteen rupees to assist the Teacheress in providing for them.
Usage notes
- Although recommended in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926),[1] teacheress is essentially unused in the modern day, outside of limited use in Indian English.
Translations
female teacher
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References
- ^ H[enry] W[atson] Fowler (1926), “Feminine designations”, in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press; London: Humphrey [Sumner] Milford, →OCLC, page 176, column 1:
- [W]ith the coming extension of women’s vocations, feminines for vocation-words are a special need of the future; everyone knows the inconvenience of being uncertain whether a doctor is a man or a woman; hesitation in establishing the word doctress is amazing in a people regarded as nothing if not practical. Far from needing to reduce the number of our sex-words, we should do well to indulge in real neologisms such as teacheress, singeress, & danceress, […]