Auditress

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A woman responsible for evaluating financial statements and ensuring regulatory compliance
2. An individual of the female sex who assesses financial records for correctness and legality
3. A female professional who examines and verifies the accuracy of an organization's financial documents

Etymology: "Auditress" is simply "auditor" with the feminine suffix "-ess" attached. "Auditor" comes from the Latin "auditor," meaning "listener" or "hearer," from "audire," "to hear." The earliest auditors were literal listeners: people who heard accounts read aloud and checked them for errors, a practice that made hearing the core of the job. The suffix "-ess," borrowed through Old French from Latin "-issa," marks a female agent, as in "actress," "waitress," or "hostess." English formed many such feminine nouns from agent words, and "auditress" follows that pattern. The word's meaning has stayed close to its base: a woman who examines and verifies financial records, now often within a regulatory framework. Because "auditress" is a rare, gendered form, many modern writers use "auditor" for women as well. The older form is still recorded in dictionaries as a standard feminine counterpart.

Synonyms: female auditor, audit agent