Is the suffix "-ette" used for referring to a female?

Question

I recently came across the word scooterette in an Indian newspaper. I wondered if this is an Indian coinage; a quick search on Google showed me it's almost purely Indian. I could not find a reliable dictionary reference, but this article says these scooterettes are scooters manufactured specifically for women.

What is the reason this suffix "-ette" is used to refer to a female? Are there other nouns which become feminine by this addition? Or is this just some neologist's portmanteau of scooter and dudette?

Adding -ette would not make a "scooter for women" as such -- a "scooterette" would be either a small scooter or a female scooter, if there could ever be one. — Kris, May 09 '12 at 18:55

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited May 09 '12 at 19:01

10

The -ette suffix is normally applied to women, not objects designed specifically for women. Thus suffragette, your dudette, usherette and the like. The French language uses -ette to feminise names: Paul/Paulette, Claude/Claudette, etc., and the same principle is used to feminise some nouns in English to create a female variant.

By extension it can also mean "small", cigarette, novelette, Nissan's Vanette and so on. These aren't female, or specially for women.

It's not normally used to create a noun like scooterette meaning "a scooter for women", although perhaps it's simply a smaller scooter which happens to appeal to women (and not men, so it's ridden exclusively by women).

edited May 09 '12 at 19:01

J.R.

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answered May 09 '12 at 18:35

Andrew Leach

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Your first sentence is confusing to me – after all, the suffix is applied to objects as well as women, isn't it? Luncheonette, diskette, towelette, launderette... Just curious; maybe I'm missing something? – J.R. May 09 '12 at 18:50
@J.R. I know what I meant: I'm not sure the edit makes it any better... – Andrew Leach May 09 '12 at 18:59
I see what you're getting at now – thanks for the explanation! – J.R. May 09 '12 at 19:02

Barrie England · Answer 2 · 2012-05-09T18:54:55.907

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There are also majorette and usherette, but -ette can be a diminutive suffix, used to produce words such as kitchenette and cigarette. It is also sometimes used to describe imitation material such as leatherette.

edited May 09 '12 at 18:54

answered May 09 '12 at 18:27

Barrie England

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 08 '14 at 21:06

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its generally female because of its etymology: From the French -ette, the feminine form of the diminutive suffix -et.

answered Apr 08 '14 at 21:06

JohnK860

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score 1 · Answer 4 · edited May 09 '12 at 18:40

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-ette is frequently used to indicate the fairer sex. As in bachelorette, suffragette, etc.

-ette
a noun suffix occurring originally in loanwords from French, where it has been used in a variety of diminutive and hypocoristic formations (brunette; cigarette; coquette; etiquette; rosette); as an English suffix, -ette forms diminutives (kitchenette; novelette; sermonette), distinctively feminine nouns (majorette; usherette), and names of imitation products (leatherette).

edited May 09 '12 at 18:40

RegDwigнt

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answered May 09 '12 at 18:25

Kevin

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Or even farmerette... – J.R. May 09 '12 at 18:30

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered May 09 '12 at 20:19

Mostly ditto Andrew Leach and Kevin.

Note that -ess is also used in English to make a word feminine, like prince/princess, actor/actress, waiter/waitress, etc.

As the right-wing traditionalist here, I am disappointed to have to add that the use of -ette and -ess to make words feminine is largely dying out. In some cases the male form is now being applied to both sexes, or a new word is chosen to apply to both. Like instead of saying "steward" or "stewardess" we're now supposed to say "flight attendant", etc.

-ette seems to be surviving in the sense of "smaller".

On a tangent, I was in an office supply store a while ago and they had a display of pens. On one side the sign said "Pens for Men" and on the other side "Pens for Women". I didn't have time to look, but I have wondered ever since what the difference would be. Of all the products that might have male and female versions, pens are not one that occurred to me.

Apparently Bic have launched pens "for her" to general amusement. Pink barrels mean blue ink; purple barrels mean black ink. The reviews on Amazon show what a vital innovation this is. — Henry, Oct 20 '12 at 15:51

Is the suffix "-ette" used for referring to a female?

5 Answers5