Plural of heretrix; multiple female heretics or women who dissent from orthodox religious doctrine.
Regular plural of 'heretrix,' formed by adding the standard English plural '-es' to the Latin feminine form.
The existence of gender-marked words like 'heretrix' and 'heretrixes' shows how thoroughly gendered English used to be—we had special words for female doctors, female poets, and female heretics, which now seems unnecessarily complicated.
Plural of heretrix, applied to groups of women heretics. Historical records show this form was used to delegitimize female religious communities and collective female theological work.
Use 'heretics' or 'women heretics' depending on whether gender specificity or historical gendering is analytically necessary.
["heretics","religious dissenters","women heretics"]
Women heretics collectively—especially Cathars, Waldensians, and Lollard women—sustained theological communities and literacy; the feminine plural was a mechanism to obscure their institutional and intellectual influence.
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