A tigress is a female tiger. That is the plain meaning, and in writing about animals it is the only one — a nature programme will say 'the tigress and her cubs' simply to make clear which parent is being talked about.

A tigress這個字 is指的是 a female tiger母老虎。That這 is是 the plain meaning最基本的意思，and而且 in writing about animals在講動物的文章裡 it is是 the only one唯一的意思——a nature programme自然節目 will say會說 'the tigress and her cubs'「母虎和牠的幼崽」 simply只是 to make clear為了講清楚 which parent哪一個親代 is being talked about在說的是。

But the word is also used about women, and there you should be careful, because it means two rather different things depending on who says it.

But不過 the word這個字 is also used也用在 about women女人身上，and而 there這時候 you should be careful就要小心了，because因為 it means它指的是 two rather different things兩種相當不同的意思 depending on根據 who says it是誰在說。

Used about a mother, it is admiring: a woman who will fight fiercely for her children is 'like a tigress'. Used about a woman in other ways, it often carries an old-fashioned idea of a woman who is fierce, dangerous or sexually powerful, and that use can sound dated or unpleasant now.

Used about a mother用在媽媽身上時，it is是 admiring讚許的意思：a woman一個女人 who will fight fiercely會拚命奮戰 for her children為了孩子 is就是 'like a tigress'「像隻母老虎」。Used about a woman in other ways用在其他方面的女人身上時，it often carries常常帶著 an old-fashioned idea一種老派的印象 of a woman一個女人 who is fierce, dangerous or sexually powerful兇悍、危險或性方面很強勢，and而 that use這種用法 can sound現在聽起來 dated or unpleasant now過時或讓人不舒服。

English used to make many of these -ess words (lioness, actress, waitress), and most of them are fading out for people; for animals they are alive and normal, because there the sex of the animal really is the information you need.

English英文 used to make過去造了 many of these -ess words很多這種 -ess 結尾的字（lioness, actress, waitress母獅、女演員、女服務生），and而 most of them這些字大部分 are fading out正在漸漸消失 for people指人的時候；for animals但指動物時 they are alive and normal它們還活著、很正常，because因為 there在這裡 the sex of the animal動物的性別 really is真的是 the information you need你需要知道的資訊。