Dogess

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A female member of the canine family, the feminine counterpart of a male dog
2. An adult female of the species Canis familiaris, sometimes used where the sex of the animal needs to be specified
3. The female of a dog, especially when its sex is being distinguished from that of a male of the same breed

Etymology: "Dogess" is a plain formation: the noun "doge," the title of the chief magistrate of Venice and Genoa, combined with the English feminine suffix "-ess," which came into English through Old French from Latin and Greek. Its meaning has drifted far from the Venetian office it started with. A doge's wife was called a "dogaressa" in Italian, and "dogess" is an English counterpart of that same title, so the two words are doublets of each other, sharing a common source but reaching English by different routes. The sense that survives in the dictionary, an adult female dog, is a much later development. Its use is largely technical or deliberately specific, appearing where the sex of an animal must be stated, as in breeding records, veterinary notes, or legal contexts. Ordinary speakers say "bitch" or "female dog" in most situations, and the word reads as slightly formal or bureaucratic.

Synonyms: bitch