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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.
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 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 ...
Mistress is an old form of address for a woman. It implies "lady of the house", especially a woman who is head of a household with domestic workers.. An example is Mistress Quickly in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.
For example, if one is writing a business letter to a woman, "Ms." is acceptable. "Mrs." denotes an adult woman who is married. "Miss" can apply to specifically unmarried women, however, the term is being replaced more and more by "Ms." [citation needed] "Miss" can apply to an unmarried woman or more generally to a younger woman.
Some multi-letter abbreviations can be treated the same way, by doubling the final letter: MS ("manuscript"), MSS ("manuscripts"); op. ("opus"), opp. ("opera" as plural of opus). However, often the abbreviation used for the singular is used also as the abbreviation for the plural; this is normal for most units of measurement and currency.
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.