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MISTRESS

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 617 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MISTRESS (adapted from O. Fr. maistresse, mod. maitresse, the feminine of See also:

maistre, maitre, See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master), a woman who has authority, particularly over a See also:

HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household. As a See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of address or See also:

TERM

term of See also:

COURTESY (O. Fr. curtesie, later courtoisie)

courtesy the word is used in the same sense as " madam." It was formerly used indifferently of married or unmarried See also:

WOMEN

women, but now, written in the abbreviated form " Mrs " (pronounced " missis "), it is practically confined to married women and prefixed to the surname; it is frequently retained, however, in the See also:

case of spinster cooks or housekeepers, as a See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of dignity; as the See also:

FEMALE

female See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent of " master " the word is used in other senses by See also:

ANALOGY (Gr. avaXo-yLa, proportion)

analogy, e.g. of See also:

Rome as " the mistress of the See also:

WORLD

world," See also:

Venice " the mistress of the Adriatic," &c. From the See also:

COMMON

common use of " master " as a teacher, " mistress " is similarly used. The old usage of the word for a See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

lady-love or sweetheart has degenerated into that of paramour. " See also:

MISS

Miss " a shortened form of " mistress," is the term of address for a girl or unmarried woman; it is prefixed to the surname in the case of the eldest or only daughter of a See also:

FAMILY

family, and to the See also:

Christian names in the case of the younger daughters.

End of Article: MISTRESS

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MISTRAL, FREDERIC (183o– )

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MITAU (Russian, Mitava; Lettish, Yelgava)