What does fellatrix mean?
Fellatrix is a rare, explicitly sexual noun denoting a woman who performs fellatio. It comes directly from Latin, where fellatrix functioned as a feminine agent noun built on the verb fellare ('to suck'), the same root that gives English the words fellatio and fellate. English borrows the term essentially unchanged, and its plural is fellatrices, following Latin declension. The word belongs to a small family of Latinate feminine-agent nouns ending in '-trix' — such as aviatrix, executrix, and dominatrix — which mark a female doer of an action. In modern usage fellatrix is uncommon and highly marked: it surfaces mostly in classical scholarship, dictionaries, and historical or legal discussion of Roman sexual vocabulary, since contemporary English speakers refer to the act itself with the more familiar term fellatio. Its tone is clinical and archaic rather than slangy, making it useful chiefly in academic or literary contexts.
nounA woman who performs fellatio; the feminine form of the agent noun corresponding to fellatio.
- A woman who performs fellatio.
"In classical Latin texts, fellatrix was used as a blunt term for a woman who performed oral sex."
"The epigrams of Martial mention the fellatrix as candidly as they name her male counterpart."
"The word fellatrix survives mainly in scholarly discussions of Latin sexual vocabulary."
The plural follows the Latin declension, changing '-x' to '-ces', like matrix/matrices and dominatrix/dominatrices.
"Juvenal's satires depict fellatrices among the vices of imperial Rome."
That '-trix' ending — the same suffix that gives us 'aviatrix' and 'executrix' — turns an everyday Latin verb into one of English's most formal-sounding explicit nouns.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fellatrix
Fellatrix comes directly from Latin, where it is the feminine form of fellator, an agent noun derived from the verb fellare ('to perform oral sex'), itself related to the noun fellatio. The '-trix' suffix, which forms feminine agent nouns in Latin, is the same element behind English words like aviatrix and executrix. English adopted the word as a direct borrowing from Latin, preserving both its spelling and its Latin plural, fellatrices.
How fellatrix is actually used
The word is rare, learned, and explicitly sexual in reference. It derives from Latin and appears chiefly in classical scholarship, legal-historical writing, or deliberately Latinate register rather than everyday speech; neutral modern English uses terms like 'fellatio' for the act itself.
Easily confused with fellatrix
Fellatio is the act of oral sex performed on a man, whereas fellatrix is the person (a woman) who performs it.
A fellator is a male or ungendered agent of the same act, while fellatrix is specifically the feminine form.
A dominatrix is a woman who dominates in sadomasochistic contexts; the two words merely share the Latinate '-trix' feminine-agent suffix.