Talk:employee

Gender in English

Considering the French origin, do the dated forms employé and employe only refer to male employees in English? Equinox ◑ 04:59, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

@Equinox: Male forms are usually also used for mixed groups (thus would not only refer to male employees). J3133 (talk) 08:32, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

@Equinox: Also note the form escapée of escapee (escape + -ee; and other -ée forms that have not been created yet), which at first glance would seem to refer only to female escapees, however, that is not the case (and escapé does not seem attestable). J3133 (talk) 08:53, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

@J3133: Yes, the usual pattern in English is to use -ee for everything regardless of gender. But there are exceptions, e.g. né (a lord or baron with an earlier surname) versus née (any woman whose name changed on marriage). I suppose the old-fashioned forms that I named above may have come from a time when women were usually housewives who didn't work. I am not sure. Equinox ◑ 06:06, 2 March 2021 (UTC)