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Meaning of STER

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
\-ster\ [OE. & AS. -estre, -istre.]
A suffix denoting the agent (originally a woman), especially
a person who does something with skill or as an occupation;
as in spinster (originally, a woman who spins), songster,
baxter (= bakester), youngster.

Note: Brewing, baking, and weaving were formerly feminine
      labors, and consequently brewster, baxter, and webster
      meant, originally, the woman (not the man) who brews,
      bakes, or weaves. When men began to perform these
      duties the feminine appellations were retained.

 



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