+85.+ All of the changes we have studied so far have been for the
purpose of indicating number; but among the nouns that name living
beings, many change to show to which sex the object named belongs. These
nouns change in form to distinguish between the masculine and the
feminine. This is called _gender_.
+Gender is the distinction in words that denotes sex.+
+The nouns that denote females are called feminine nouns.+
+The nouns that denote males are called masculine nouns.+
+86.+ The feminine form is generally made by the addition of _ess_
to the masculine form. Thus:
prince princess
master mistress
host hostess
count countess
tiger tigress
lion lioness
actor actress
god goddess
+87.+ Names of things without sex are, of course, of neither gender, and
are called _neuter nouns_. Neuter means literally _neither_. Such nouns
as _mountain_, _iron_, _river_, _chair_, are neuter.
Sometimes the feminine is an entirely different word from the masculine.
Thus:
king queen
lord lady
man woman
youth maiden
sir madam
stag hind
+88.+ Many nouns that denote living beings apply alike to male and
female, and are said to be of _common gender_. As woman enters more and
more into the business world and pursues the same occupations as man,
the change in form to denote the feminine is used less frequently, and
what we have called the masculine form is used for both sexes, thus:
_Poet_, _waiter_, _doctor_, _editor_--these nouns are used for both men
and women.