Mistress (form of address)

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Wikipedia

Mistress is an old form of address for a woman. It was used as a title of respect for women of authority, respect, or social status.[1] The title did not necessarily distinguish between married and unmarried women.[2] The titles Mrs., Miss and Ms. are abbreviations derived from Mistress.[2] The word mistress comes from the Anglo-Norman and Middle French maistresse, which itself derives from a combination of maistre, meaning master, and the suffix -esse.[1]

Mastress is an obsolete form.[3][4][5]

An example is Mistress Quickly in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "mistress, n. & adj.", Oxford English Dictionary (3 ed.), Oxford University Press, 2023-03-02, doi:10.1093/oed/1126909868, retrieved 2025-09-19
  2. 1 2 Erickson, A. L. (Fall 2014). "Mistresses and Marriage: or, a Short History of the Mrs". History Workshop Journal. 78 (1): 39–57. doi:10.1093/hwj/dbt002. ISSN 1363-3554.
  3. ↑ A Dictionary of the English Language; in which the Words are Deduced from Their Originals; and Illustrated in Their Different Significations ... Together with a History of the Language, and an English Grammar. By Samuel Johnson ... With Numerous Corrections, and with the Addition of Several Thousand Words ... by the Rev. H.J. Todd ... In Four Volumes. Vol. 1. [-4.]. 1 January 1818. Retrieved 15 March 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ "Mastress - Definition of Mastress by Webster's Online Dictionary". Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "Mastress dictionary definition - mastress defined". Retrieved 15 March 2017.