What is Gender Noun

Gender is a common noun classification; this classification determines whether the noun refers to a male or a female. Most English nouns do not have grammatical gender, that is, most nouns are in the neutral form. However, some nouns traditionally have gender specific forms. There are three genders in English: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Feminine gender noun is a noun that refers to females (human and animal). Masculine gender noun is a noun that refers to males. (human and animal)

Examples of Gender Nouns

Given below are some gender-specific nouns that are related to various professions, status, roles, and relationships. All these nouns are used to refer to humans.

Masculine	Feminine
actor	actress
bridegroom	bride
brother	sister
emperor	empress
father	mother
god	goddess
headmaster	headmistress
hero	heroine
host	hostess
husband	wife
king	queen
manager	manageress
nephew	niece
poet	poetess
prince	princess
sir	madam
son	daughter
uncle	aunt
waiter	waitress
wizard	witch

The actor who played the hero won many awards.

The mother of the bride is a poetess.

The lady of the house welcomed us warmly.

Henry’s mother and daughter were witches.

Although some nouns traditionally have some different forms, nowadays people prefer more neutral terms. For example, the term firefighter is preferred over fireman, and the term nurse is used for both males and females. Neutral words are more politically correct as they don’t offend anyone.

Some animals have masculine and feminine forms. Often, one of these names acts as the neutral term, even if we know the gender of the animal. Given below are some examples of gender nouns that refer to animals.

Animal	Masculine	Feminine
dog	dog	bitch
cow	bull	cow
lion	lion	lioness
duck	drake	duck
horse	stallion	mare
pig	boar	sow
peacock	peacock	peahen
whale	bull-whale	cow-whale
bee	drone	bee
swan	cob	pen
cat	tom-cat	tabby-cat
sheep	ram	ewe

Lion and Lioness

Some nouns are used for both male and females. These are common gender nouns. These nouns don’t indicate the gender of the thing referred to. Some examples of common gender nouns include baby, teacher, friend, guardian, neighbor, relative, parent, student, child, dancer, cousin, cat, infant, etc.

But we can also form a gender specific noun adding words male and female in front of a common/neutral noun.

Alex is a female doctor.

I have one male cousin and thirteen female cousins.