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Mrs. (American English)[1] or Mrs (British English;[2][3] standard English pronunciation: /ˈmɪsɪz/ MISS-iz) is a commonly used English honorific for women, usually for those who are married and who do not instead use another title or rank, such as Doctor, Professor, President, Dame, etc. In most Commonwealth countries, a full stop (period) is usually not used with the title. In the United States and Canada a period (full stop) is usually used (see Abbreviation).[4]
Mrs. originated as a contraction of the honorific Mistress (the feminine of Mister or Master) which was originally applied to both married and unmarried women in the upper class. Writers who used Mrs for unmarried women include Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and Samuel Johnson. The split into Mrs for married women and Miss for unmarried began during the 17th century,[5][6] but was not reliable until well into the 19th century.[7]
It is rare for Mrs. to be written in a non-abbreviated form, and the unabbreviated word lacks a standard spelling. In literature it may appear as missus or missis in dialogue. A variant in the works of Thomas Hardy and others is "Mis'ess", reflecting its etymology. Misses has been used but is ambiguous, as this is a commonly used plural for Miss. The plural of Mrs. is from the French: Mesdames. This may be used as is in written correspondence, or it may be abbreviated Mmes.
- ^ "Definition of Mrs". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ "Mrs". Cambridge Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ "Mrs abbreviation". Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ "Abbreviations: Capital Letters and Abbreviations". www.sussex.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- ^ Spender, Dale. Man-Made Language.
- ^ Stannard, Una. Mrs Man.
- ^ Erickson, A.L. (2 Sep 2014). "Mistresses and Marriage: Or, a Short History of the Mrs" (PDF). History Workshop Journal. 78 (1): 39–57. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.