Affixes

Some early examples referred to a woman engaged in an occupation, such as brewster, maltster, and spinster, originally ‘a woman who spins’ (the ending was the feminine equivalent of words in ‑ere, which later became ‑er; see ‑er¹). It has long been extended to activities undertaken by men, such as chorister or teamster. Words in which it refers to a characteristic of the person include youngster and the US-derived oldster, as well as hipster (a person who is hip, who follows the latest trends and fashions). Less often, the ending refers to objects, roadster being a rare example.

It often has a derogatory sense: tipster, rhymester, prankster. Many of these are more common in the US than Britain: gamester, gangster, huckster, jokester, mobster, punster, trickster. Such terms continue to be formed, again most frequently in the US: popster, hypester, soulster, scamster.

Master comes from Old English mæg(i)ster, but derives from Latin magister (see also ‑meister); others that derive from Latin words with the same ending include minister and barrister (formed from bar in imitation of minister), as do nouns ending in ‑aster (such as poetaster). In words such as boaster, jester, broadcaster, and protester, the suffix is ‑er (see ‑er¹) on a stem ending in st.

See also ‑stress.