oratrix

[ awr-uh-triks, or- ]

noun

, plural or·a·tri·ces [awr-, uh, -, trahy, -seez, or-].

1. a woman who delivers an oration; a public speaker, especially one of great eloquence.

Gender Note

See -trix.

Word History and Origins

Origin of oratrix¹

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin ōrātrīx, feminine of ōrātor orator; -trix

Example Sentences

We do not call the devout Christian woman a saintess, nor the eloquent woman an oratrix, but the woman who excels in endurance and bravery and in the virtues that constitute a man a hero, is only a heroine, as if heroism was a manly virtue, to which woman may lay no claim.

From Project Gutenberg

In a few instances the feminine is formed as in Latin, by changing or to rix; but some of these have also the regular form, which ought to be preferred: as, adjutor, adjutrix; administrator, administratrix; arbitrator, arbitratrix; coadjutor, coadjutrix; competitor, competitress, or competitrix; creditor, creditrix; director, directress, or directrix; executor, executress, or executrix; inheritor, inheritress, or inheritrix; mediator, mediatress, or mediatrix; orator, oratress, or oratrix; rector, rectress, or rectrix; spectator, spectatress, or spectatrix; testator, testatrix; tutor, tutoress, or tutress, or tutrix; deserter, desertress, or desertrice, or desertrix.

From Project Gutenberg