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Mrs. (American English) [1] or Mrs (British English; [2] [3] standard English pronunciation: / ˈ m ɪ s ɪ z / ⓘ 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 the English language, an honorific is a form of address conveying esteem, courtesy or respect. These can be titles prefixing a person's name, e.g.: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Mx, Sir, Dame, Dr, Cllr, Lady, or Lord, or other titles or positions that can appear as a form of address without the person's name, as in Mr President, General, Captain, Father, Doctor, or Earl.
The titles Mrs., Miss and Ms. are abbreviations derived from Mistress. Mastress is an obsolete form. [1] [2] [3] See also. Master (form of address) References
Madam (/ ˈ m æ d əm /), or madame (/ ˈ m æ d əm / or / m ə ˈ d ɑː m /), [1] is a polite and formal form of address for women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am [2] (pronounced / ˈ m æ m / in American English [2] and this way but also / ˈ m ɑː m / in British English [3]).
The meanings of both Miss and Mrs underwent transformations over time. Historically, these titles did not solely indicate marital status. [2] Even after the adoption of Miss by many adult single women in 18th-century England, Mrs continued to signify social or business standing, rather than merely marital status, until at least the mid-19th century.
The second-person (singular and plural) possessive adjective your is used as a form of address (that is, when speaking directly to the person[s] entitled to the style[s]); the third-person possessive adjectives his/her' (singular) and their (plural) are used as forms of reference (that is, when speaking about the person[s] entitled to the style ...
The modern plural form is Misters [citation needed], although its usual formal abbreviation Messrs(.) [note 1] derives from use of the French title messieurs in the 18th century. [ 2 ] [ 5 ] Messieurs is the plural of monsieur (originally mon sieur , "my lord "), formed by declining both of its constituent parts separately.
Suggestions about how Ms. should be used, or whether it should be used at all, are varied, with more criticism in the U.K. than in the U.S. . The Daily Telegraph states in its style guide that Ms should only be used if a subject requests it herself and it "should not be used merely because we do not know whether the woman is Mrs or Miss." [22] The Guardian, which restricts its use of honorific ...