Mrs.

American  

[mis-iz, miz-iz] / ˈmɪs ɪz, ˈmɪz ɪz /

abbreviation

plural

Mmes

1. a title of respect prefixed to the surname or full name of a married woman.

   Mrs. Jones; Mrs. Susan Jones.

2. a title prefixed to a mock surname that is used to represent possession of a particular attribute, identity, etc., especially in an idealized or excessive way.

   Mrs. Punctuality.

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Mrs British  

/ ˈmɪsɪz /

noun

1. a title used before the name or names of a married woman

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Pronunciation

Mrs., first recorded in the early 17th century, was originally, like Miss, an abbreviation of mistress. Mrs. and mistress were at first used interchangeably in all contexts, but by the second half of that century, the written form of the abbreviation was largely confined to use as a title preceding a woman's surname. By the early 19th century, reduction of the medial consonant cluster had contracted the usual pronunciation of the title from to or . The contracted pronunciation used other than as a title was not considered standard, and today, locutions like Let me discuss it with the missis are perceived as old-fashioned. Currently, two main types of pronunciation for the abbreviation occur in the United States; and sometimes are the common forms in the North and North Midland, while in the South Midland and South, the prevalent types are and , the latter homophonous with the usual pronunciation of the abbreviation Ms.

Gender

See Ms.

Etymology

Origin of Mrs.

Abbreviation of mistress

Example Sentences

“Why, yes, Mrs. Warne,” said the Right Reverend, sliding his pointy black boot forward just a hint to keep her door from slamming shut on his petition.

From Literature

“The main difference for the history of the world if I had been shot rather than Kennedy,” he supposedly once observed, “is that Onassis probably wouldn’t have married Mrs. Khrushchev.”

From The Wall Street Journal

John: “We’ve had the swinging sixties, and I was wondering, Mrs. Lennon, how you saw your place in the seventies?”

From Salon

I recall the intense inner excitement aroused in my heart by Alla Nazimova’s enactment of Mrs. Alving in a performance of Ibsen’s “Ghosts” in the 1930s.

From The Wall Street Journal

The ignoble battle ends when a neighbor, Mrs. Prothero, shouts that her house is on fire, “announcing ruin like a town crier in Pompeii.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• girl
• mother