797: -ster ('gangsters' not 'gangers') Feb 12, 2017

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Someone who bakes is a 'baker' and someone who runs is 'runner'. There are a class of words, however, for which the '-er' suffix appears as '-ster', as in someone who is in a gang is not a 'ganger' but a 'gangster', and someone who writes songs is a 'songster'. For this reason, someone can at the same time be a 'whippersnapper' and a 'youngster'. This suffix is only added to words due to convention at this point in time, but it was systematic in Middle, and Old English; '-estre' was the feminine form of the suffix demonstrating agency. As such, and as mentioned before, one who bakes is a 'baker' but the fairly common surname, 'Baxter' or 'Backster' comes from this feminine form, 'backster', and would indicate that there was likely a female baker in that person's family.
For more on the '-er' suffix, see the post on comparative adjectives. 

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