birr from OE byre: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/birr

force, vigor, energy
a strong wind.
the force of the wind; rush, impetus, momentum, driving force
a thrust or push
a whirring noise

---
resung, ræswung f. - reasoning, conjecture
ræswa m. - leader, counsellor, ruler, guide: chief, prince, king.
ræswan, ræswian - to think, consider, conjecture, suspect
ræswum dp. of *ræs or ræsu f. or *ræswa - suggestion, deliberation, counsel

so reason would be likely be ræs >>> reas ... dat rease, dat pl reasum ... Norman scribes didn't like u before m ... reasom ... then we're back to reason.

@DaniS ... If you're referring to this from douglas.bryrant: Some say it started when Webster's Third included the word "ain't," loosing the hounds of criticism from the prescriptive crowd.

Then loosing is correct.

From the OED: verb [ with obj. ]
set free; release: the hounds have been loosed.

@another try ... most verbs that end in "t" take an "ed" past tense ... painted, boasted, roasted, asf.

M-W has texted as the past tense: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/text%5B2%5D

I texted her a little while ago.
I texted a message to her.
She just texted me back.

To answer the question, going by Googles ngrams, it looks like that the use of actress peeked out somewhen in the 30s while he use of actor has kept climbing. But it does seem more or less steady for the time being so it hasn't dropped out altogether.

BTW, originally, it was actrix.

The -ess aftfast (suffix) was brought to English by the Norman-French overlords along with many other French/Latin words. One of the old feminine aftfasts was -ster, which is now gender neutral for the most part. But yu can still see it some word pairs:

baker/baxter
brewer/brewster
spinner/spinster

Spinster is likely the only one nowadays that specifically means a woman. But oddly enuff, there is "spinstress" tho that is somewhat redundant.

So nowadays, to feminize a noun the most common way is by benoting the -ess. Tho Latin words ending in -or should benote -rix/trix ... aviator/aviatrix, executor/executrix, asf.

@jmcbride70 --- Engineeress does stand as a word ... But even if it didn't yu could always make it by simply benoting the -ess aftfast.
Philip Guedalla, Conquistador:
"But at least they learned to dance and smile and talk and choose engineeresses appropriate to their engineering futures."

@Donna Simone --- Danceress also stands as a word but it is seld-seen. Writeress, authoress, and poetess are all well known words. I haven't seen painteress but one could gewiss benote it.

Today I tripped across this word: tholemod* - meaning patient. I'v also found it brooked as a noun as "patience" but I hav also seen tholemodness benoted for the noun as well. I haven't found either brooked beyond ME (for ease of reading: þ,ð = th, ᵹ = g):

For tholemod is, the thuldeliche abereth woh thet me him deth. Eadmod is, the tholie mei thet me him mis-segge. ... For patient is, who patiently bears woe that one him does. Humble is, who tolerates mess that folks (to/of) him mis-say.

It's a kenning of thole+mood ... a tolerating-mood > patience.

Here's another one:
Her biginneth the other dale of the heorte warde thurh the fif wittes. ... Here begins the twoth** part of the heart-ward thru the five senses.

I like dale for part (a sunder spelling for deal). Mark that witt is sense.

One more:
... god is thet ye easki read ant salve thet he teache ow togeines fondunges. ... good is that you aseek (ask) rede and salve (remedies) that he teaches you against temptation. Fondunge (OE fandung) is temptation.

tholemod: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tholemod
twoth: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/twoth

On another note, I was saddened to find that "gist" and "mess" hav Latin roots. Since it means "essence", I was guessing that gist had come thru the Franks and was akin to geist ... but I was wrong. :( ... Still, I like the word! lol

Anent mess, I should hav guess that it was French since it is brooked in the military in "mess hall".

The other day I wrote "mindsight" for imagination without even thinking about. But I guess it would work for idea as well.

An interesting word: min
adj - less, small (OE min) See it in ME min(t)while ... an instant, moment
noun - memory, remembrance (ON minni)
verb - to remind, remember, mention (ON minna)

@Mom ... as far as aunt ... I think I say it like my parents did. But I do kno that were many other words that I didn't say like they did since I had learned the "proper" pronunciation. I would never expect my kids to talk like me if they thought I was wrong or if there are two ways to say a word and they like the other way.

@HolyMackerel ... Good catch. Yes, they are and can be found in brooking after ME. I like hersum better owing to its a little shorter; it retains the better spelling of "sum" rather than "some"; and the meaning is less likely to befuddled. Only to look at the word, one would think more related to hearing than "hear and obey". To me, without knowing the true meaning, a "hearsome woman" would be one that likes to eavesdrop!

OTOH, it might be eather, to get folks to brook hearsome than hersum ...

Y'all (mark the first usage note is disputed): http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/y'all I would go even further and say that the first usage note is downright wrong! Sounds like a damn yankee wrong it! lol

Y'all's http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/y'all's