-trix
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).
Also
-trice.
Origin of -trix
< 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, sex 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
British Dictionary definitions for -trix
-trix
suffix forming nouns
indicating a feminine agent, corresponding to nouns ending in -tor
executrix
Word Origin for -trix
from Latin