-euse

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from French, forming feminine nouns corresponding to nouns ending in -eur: chanteuse.

Word History and Origins

Origin of -euse¹

< French < Latin -ōsa, feminine of -ōsus -ose ¹ (> French -eux ); taken as feminine of -eur when this suffix had lost its final consonant (later restored) and was homonymous with -eux (hence, masculine -eu ( r ), feminine -euse, by analogy with -eux, -euse )

Example Sentences

John XX, James d’Euse, born at Cahors, cardinal, bishop of Porto, elected pope at Lyons the 7th of Aug. 1316, died 4th Dec. 1334 Excommunication of the emperor Louis of Bavaria.

From Project Gutenberg

Having chosen Tom as their captain, the gang started for Euse bridge, at the foot of Bassenthwaite lake, which place they reached a couple of hours after nightfall.

From Project Gutenberg

Euse�bius, of C�sarea, the father of ecclesiastical history, a Greek writer, born in Palestine about A.D.

From Project Gutenberg

Frieda came to the end of the "Valse Brillante" and took up the "Ber�euse."

From Project Gutenberg

This is the Latin -osus; French -eux, -euse.

From Project Gutenberg

When To Use

What does -euse mean?

The form -euse is a suffix that marks an agent noun or, occasionally, an adjective in loanwords from French. Agent nouns are nouns that indicate a person who does an action. Broadly speaking then, -euse means "doer." The suffix -euse is relatively common in both everyday and technical terms.The suffix -euse comes from the Latin -ōsa, which was used to indicate agent nouns whose grammatical gender was female.The suffix -euse is the feminine-gendered variant of -eur. Although -eur is a masculine-gendered ending for agent nouns, it is often (though not always) preferred over -euse as the default in English, regardless of the subject’s gender. Some words that end with -euse, such as danseuse, are still reserved (though not without due criticism) for women.Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -eur article.