The word "Doctoress" is a rarely used term and is simply the feminine form of the word Doctor. It is spelled with a "tress" suffix to indicate the feminine gender. The IPA phonetic transcription for "Doctoress" is /ˈdɑktərɪs/. The stress is on the second syllable "tor" with a short "o" sound. The "ess" at the end is pronounced with a "s" sound like the word "less". While not commonly used today, "Doctoress" was more frequently used in the past to refer to a female doctor.
There is no dictionary definition available for the word "doctoress" as it is not a widely recognized or commonly used term in contemporary English. "Doctoress" is a rarely used word that is primarily derived from the obsolete term "doctress," which was used in the past to refer to a female doctor or physician.
The term "doctress" emerged during a time when the medical field was predominantly male-dominated, and few women pursued careers as doctors. The suffix "-ess" was traditionally added to professions to indicate a female counterpart (e.g., actress, waitress). Similarly, "doctress" was formed to denote a female physician, although it fell out of favor in modern times due to the preferred gender-neutral term "doctor" being used for both males and females.
Given the aforementioned, in contemporary English, the term "doctoress" does not have a standard definition or usage. However, it could potentially be created or used in a context where there is a need to specifically distinguish a female doctor, although its rarity and lack of recognition make it an unconventional choice.
The word "Doctoress" is derived from the Middle English word "doctoresse" which originally appeared in the 14th century. It is formed by adding the suffix "-ess" to the word "doctor", which comes from the Latin word "doctor" meaning "teacher" or "scholar". The suffix "-ess" is used to indicate a female practitioner of a profession, as seen in words like "actress" or "waitress". However, it is important to note that "doctoress" is an archaic term, and is no longer commonly used. Today, the more common and accepted term for a female doctor is "doctor" regardless of gender.