-ster

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See also: ster, stêr, and Stèr

English

Etymology

From Middle English -estere, -ester, from Old English -estre (-ster, feminine agent suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-astrijā, of disputed origin. Cognate with Middle Low German -ester, Dutch -ster.

Suffix

-ster

  1. Someone who is, or who is associated with, or who does something specified.
  2. (humorous, sometimes offensive) A diminutive appended to a person's name.
    • 1992, Russell Baker, "Observer; Pretty Good Read" (review of What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer), New York Times, 25 Jul.,
      Cramer's exploration of the hearts, minds and souls of America's ambition-crazed Presidential candidates moves ahead at a pace that feels childishly frantic . . . . This is not just because it keeps referring to Senator Robert Dole as "the Bobster."
    • 2023 April 21, John Crace, “Psycho goes down raging: the liberal wokerati finally get to Raab”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
      “Never better,” the Raabster spat back. “Just get on with it. What’s the score?”

Usage notes

  • Relatively uncommon for agent nouns, compared to more usual -er and -or; primarily used for single-syllable words. Also informal, particularly in contemporary productive use – compare hipster, scenester, bankster; older terms such as barrister do not have this casual connotation, however.
  • Sometimes used in proper names, e.g. Napster (file-sharing software), Blockster (Brandon Block, disc jockey)
  • In older words, used as a suffix for jobs that were held by women, e.g., webster (female webber, or weaver), baxter (female baker), spinster (female spinner), brewster (female brewer).

Synonyms

Derived terms

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch -ster, from Old Dutch *-istra, from Proto-West Germanic *-astrijā; cognate with Middle Low German -ester, Old English -estre. Perhaps also merging with Vulgar Latin -istria, borrowed from Ancient Greek -ιστρια (-istria).

Suffix

-ster f

  1. female equivalent of -er

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ A. van Loey, "Schönfeld's Historische Grammatica van het Nederlands", Zutphen, 8. druk, 1970, →ISBN; § 177

Middle English

Suffix

-ster

  1. Alternative form of -estere