Adulteresses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who engage in sexual relations with someone who is married to another person
2. Women who betray their spouses by being unfaithful in an extramarital affair
3. Persons characterized by their involvement in romantic relationships outside of marriage, typically against marital vows

Etymology: "Adulteresses" is the plural of "adulteress," which is formed from "adulter," an older noun for a person who committed adultery, plus the feminine suffix "-ess." The suffix did the work of marking the gender: "adulter" was the base form, and "-ess" turned it into the female counterpart. The interesting twist is that the balance has shifted over time. The "-ess" suffix was once the normal way to name a female doer, but "adulteress" is now typically understood as the female equivalent of "adulterer," the word that eventually became the standard term for the person, regardless of sex, who had committed adultery. In other words, a word built to mark a woman has come to sit alongside a masculine form it was originally derived to match.

Synonyms: cheaters, betrayers

Antonyms: faithful spouses