mistress

[mis-tris]

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noun

a woman who has authority, control, or power, especially the female head of a household, institution, or other establishment.

a woman employing, or in authority over, servants or attendants.

a female owner of an animal, or formerly, a slave.

a woman who has the power of controlling or disposing of something at her own pleasure: mistress of a great fortune.

(sometimes initial capital letter) something regarded as feminine that has control or supremacy: Great Britain, the mistress of the seas.

a woman who is skilled in something, as an occupation or art.

a woman who has a continuing, extramarital sexual relationship with one man, especially a man who, in return for an exclusive and continuing liaison, provides her with financial support.

British. a female schoolteacher; schoolmistress.

(initial capital letter) a term of address in former use and corresponding to Mrs., Miss, or Ms.

Archaic. sweetheart.

Origin of mistress

1275–1325; Middle English maistresse < Middle French, Old French, equivalent to maistre master + -esse -ess

Related formsmis·tressed, adjectivemis·tress-ship, noun

Usage note

See -ess.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mistress

sweetheart, paramour, roommate, concubine, girlfriend, prostitute, courtesan, sweetie, sugar, shack, moll, inamorata, chatelaine, doxy, ladylove, bedmate, whore

Examples from the Web for mistress

Contemporary Examples of mistress

He said, too, that after being accepted as a slave to Mistress Couple, he has made massive strides psychologically.
Dungeons and Genital Clamps: Inside a Legendary BDSM Chateau
Ian Frisch
December 20, 2014
And Pope Alexander VI had the painter Pinturicchio disguise his mistress as the Virgin Mary in one fresco.
Great Renaissance Art Thrived Amid Filth
Nick Romeo
December 3, 2014
She broods on a portrait of her mistress, happy that it cannot say “you are not mine.”
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun
Katie Baker
November 8, 2014
He had made a mistress of a girl he rescued from some blasted-out village conquered by the Red Army at the end of the war.
Iran’s Top Spy Is the Modern-Day Karla, John Le Carré’s Villainous Mastermind
Michael Weiss
July 2, 2014
As a teenager, I was the mistress of his brother—who ‘gave’ me as a gift to the sultan.
The Best of the Beast, May 5-12
The Daily Beast
May 10, 2014

Historical Examples of mistress

“I will send her some, and likewise of mine own comfits and cakes,” said Mistress Dennet.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
At any rate, if the lady of the house objected to it, it could return with Mistress Randall.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
Never, never, wringing her hands, should she meet with a mistress she loved so well.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
The master and mistress thenceforth transact their affairs by deputy.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
Master received him with cordiality, and presented him to mistress.
To be Read at Dusk
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for mistress

mistress

noun

a woman who has a continuing extramarital sexual relationship with a man

a woman in a position of authority, ownership, or control, such as the head of a household

a woman or female personification having control over something specifiedshe was mistress of her own destiny

mainly British short for schoolmistress

an archaic or dialect word for sweetheart

Word Origin for mistress

C14: from Old French; see master, -ess

Mistress

noun

an archaic or dialect title equivalent to Mrs

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mistress

early 14c., "female teacher, governess," from Old French maistresse "mistress (lover); housekeeper; governess, female teacher" (Modern French maîtresse), fem. of maistre "master" (see master (n.)). Sense of "a woman who employs others or has authority over servants" is from early 15c. Sense of "kept woman of a married man" is from early 15c.