mistress
[mis-tris]
- 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.
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Origin of mistress
Usage note
See -ess.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mistress
Contemporary Examples
He said, too, that after being accepted as a slave to Mistress Couple, he has made massive strides psychologically.
And Pope Alexander VI had the painter Pinturicchio disguise his mistress as the Virgin Mary in one fresco.
She broods on a portrait of her mistress, happy that it cannot say “you are not mine.”
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 MastermindMichael Weiss
July 2, 2014
As a teenager, I was the mistress of his brother—who ‘gave’ me as a gift to the sultan.
Historical Examples
“I will send her some, and likewise of mine own comfits and cakes,” said Mistress Dennet.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
At any rate, if the lady of the house objected to it, it could return with Mistress Randall.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
The master and mistress thenceforth transact their affairs by deputy.
Never, never, wringing her hands, should she meet with a mistress she loved so well.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
Master received him with cordiality, and presented him to mistress.
To be Read at DuskCharles Dickens
mistress
- 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
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French; see master, -ess
Mistress
- an archaic or dialect title equivalent to Mrs
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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
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper