Morphemes in “princess”
“princess” has 2 morphemes: prince + -ess.
princ
root
+
ess
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are prince + -ess.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| prince (written princ) | free root | free | a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign (especially the son of a sovereign) |
| -ess | derivational suffix | bound | female |
How the word is built
prince → princess
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “prince” is where the chain starts.
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Prefixes, roots and suffixes with glosses, free and in your browser.
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Segmentation derived from MorphyNet (Batsuren, Bella & Giunchiglia, 2021; CC BY-SA 3.0, built from Wiktionary), with hand-written affix glosses and root meanings from WordNet. Reviewed for classroom use; tell us if you spot an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many morphemes are in "princess"?
"princess" has two morphemes: prince + -ess.
How do you break "princess" into morphemes?
prince + -ess. The root is "prince"; -ess is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "princess"?
The root of "princess" is "prince", built up as prince → princess.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.