seductress

The word 'seductress' is a relatively modern English formation, built upon the earlier noun 'seduction' and verb 'seduce'. Its core, 'seduct-', originates from the Latin verb seducere, a compound of se- ('aside, away') and ducere ('to lead'), thus literally meaning 'to lead aside or astray'. The female agent suffix '-ress' entered English via Old French -eresse, which itself evolved from the Latin feminine agent noun suffix -trix. Therefore, the word's literal construction means 'a female who leads astray', a meaning which has specialized in modern usage to almost exclusively refer to a woman who uses charm or sexual allure to mislead or entice a man into an illicit relationship.

Structure: seduct (lead astray) + ress (female agent) - seduct: From Latin seduct-, the past participle stem of seducere meaning 'to lead away, lead astray'. It functions as the core verbal root. - ress: A suffix of Old French origin (-eresse), from Late Latin -trix, denoting a female agent or doer. It functions as a gender-specific noun-forming suffix.