Historical Tidbit: Some occupation names in English used to come in male/female versions: Baker/Baxter, Brewer/Brewster, Weaver (Weber)/Webster, and a few others. Later the feminine -ster ending became generic, yielding words such as youngster or gangster. But one -ster occupation survived as feminine and derogatory: spinster.
Historical Tidbit: Some occupation names in English used to come in male/female versions: Baker/Baxter, Brewer/Brewster, Weaver (Weber)/Webster, and a few others. Later the feminine -ster ending became generic, yielding words such as youngster or gangster. But one -ster occupation survived as feminine and derogatory: spinster.