English
fornicatress
Fornicatress comes from Latin fornicatrix ‘fornicator (female), whore’, and goes back to fornix ‘vault, brothel’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfornix‘vault, brothel’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfornicor‘to fornicate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfornicatrix‘fornicator (female), whore’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604fornicatress
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfornix‘vault, brothel’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfornicor‘to fornicate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfornicatrix‘fornicator (female), whore’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604fornicatress
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure: “Well: let her be admitted, / See you the…”
Every English word from Latin fornix
Today it means
noun A female fornicator; a fornicatrix.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin fornix / fornicatress