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-ster - 4 dictionary results

-ster

 
a suffix used in forming nouns, often derogatory, referring especially to occupation, habit, or association: gamester; songster; trickster.
Origin:
ME; OE -estre; c. D -ster, MLG -(e)ster
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : -ster
Spanish: timón, German: das Steuerruder, Japanese: 舵
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-ster  
suff.  
  1. One that is associated with, participates in, makes, or does: songster.
  2. One that is: youngster.


[Middle English, from Old English -estre, female agent suff.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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-ster 
O.E. -istre, from P.Gmc. *-istrijon, feminine agent suffix used as the equivalent of masculine -ere. Also used in M.E. to form nouns of action (meaning "a person who ...") without regard for gender. The genderless agent noun use apparently was a broader application of the original feminine suffix, beginning in the north of England, but linguists disagree over whether this indicates female domination of weaving and baking trades, as represented in names like Webster, Baxter, Brewster, etc. (though spinster clearly represents a female ending). In Modern Eng., the suffix has been productive in forming derivative nouns (gamester, punster, etc.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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-ster

-ster\ [OE. & AS. -estre, -istre.] A suffix denoting the agent (originally a woman), especially a person who does something with skill or as an occupation; as in spinster (originally, a woman who spins), songster, baxter (= bakester), youngster.

Note: Brewing, baking, and weaving were formerly feminine labors, and consequently brewster, baxter, and webster meant, originally, the woman (not the man) who brews, bakes, or weaves. When men began to perform these duties the feminine appellations were retained.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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