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Mrs. (American English)[1] orMrs (British English;[2][3] standard English pronunciation:/ˈmɪsɪz/ ⓘMISS-iz) is a commonly usedEnglish honorific forwomen, usually for those who are married and who do not instead use another title or rank, such asDoctor,Professor, President,Dame, etc. In mostCommonwealth countries, a full stop (period) is usually not used with the title. In theUnited States andCanada a period (full stop) is usually used (seeAbbreviation).[4]
Mrs. originated as acontraction of the honorificMistress (the feminine ofMister orMaster) which was originally applied to both married and unmarried women in the upper class. Writers who usedMrs for unmarried women includeDaniel Defoe,Samuel Richardson,Henry Fielding, andSamuel Johnson. The split intoMrs for married women andMiss for unmarried began during the 17th century,[5][6] but was not reliable until well into the 19th century.[7]
It is rare forMrs. to be written in a non-abbreviated form, and the unabbreviated word lacks a standard spelling. In literature it may appear asmissus ormissis in dialogue. A variant in the works ofThomas Hardy and others is "Mis'ess", reflecting itsetymology.Misses has been used but is ambiguous, as this is a commonly used plural forMiss. The plural ofMrs. is from theFrench:Mesdames. This may be used as is in written correspondence, or it may be abbreviatedMmes.
Originally, Mrs was used with a woman's own first name and married surname.Abigail Adams, for example, was addressed as Mrs. Abigail Adams.[8] In the 19th century, it became common to use the husband's first name instead of the wife's.Jane Austen gave some of the earliest examples of that form when she wrote of Mrs. John Dashwood.[7] By the early 20th century, that usage was standard, and the formsMrs Jane Smith,Mrs Miller (wife of John Smith), orMrs Miller-Smith were considered incorrect by many etiquette writers.[9] Many feminists (such asElizabeth Cady Stanton,Lucy Stone, andCharlotte Perkins Gilman) objected, but they disagreed on whether the problem was the titleMrs or the husband's first name or the husband's surname.[10]
In several languages, the title for married women such asMadame,Señora,Signora, orFrau, is the direct feminine equivalent of the title used for men; the title for unmarried women is a diminutive:Mademoiselle,Señorita,Signorina, orFräulein. For this reason, usage had shifted toward using the married title as the default for all women in professional usage. This had long been followed in the United Kingdom for some high-ranking household staff, such as housekeepers, cooks, andnannies, who were calledMrs. as a mark of respect regardless of marital status.
In the United Kingdom, the traditional form for adivorcée wasMrs Jane Smith.[citation needed] In the U.S., the divorcée originally retained her full married name unless she remarried.[citation needed] Later,[citation needed] the formMrs. Miller Smith was sometimes used, with thebirth surname in place of the first name. However, the formMrs. Jane Miller eventually became widely-used for divorcées, even in formal correspondence; that is,Mrs. preceded the divorcée's maiden name.
Before social mores relaxed to the point where single women with children were socially acceptable, the unwed mother was often advised byetiquette mavens likeEmily Post to useMrs. with her maiden name to avoid scrutiny.
The separation ofMiss andMrs. became problematic as more women entered thewhite-collar workforce because it was difficult to change names and titles when they had already established a career. Women who became famous or well known in their professional circles before marriage often kept their birth names, stage names, or pen names.Miss became the appellation for celebrities (e.g., MissHelen Hayes, or MissAmelia Earhart) but this also proved problematic, as when a married womandid use her husband’s last name but was still referred to asMiss; see more atMs. andMiss.
It is now very uncommon for a woman to be addressed by her husband's first name; however, this still sometimes occurs if a couple is being addressed jointly, such as inMr. and Mrs. John Smith.
Many married women still use the title with their spouse's last name but retaining their first name (e.g.,Mrs Jane Smith). Other married women choose not to adopt their spouse's last name at all. It is generally considered polite to address a woman byMs. rather thanMrs., unless the preference of the woman in question is clearly-known. This is especially true in written communication, as dictated by professional etiquette.[11]
Modernetiquette provides various options in addressing married couples in which the wife uses her own last name, or uses a title such asDr.,Mayor, orMs.. Etiquette-writerJudith Martin ("Miss Manners") generally advises that, in non-standard situations, the individuals be addressed on separate lines when writing invitations (e.g., "Dr. Sue Martin/Mr. John Martin").
In direct address, a woman with the titleMrs. may be addressedMrs. [Lastname], or with the stand-aloneMadam orMa'am, although the latter two are more-often used for any adult woman, regardless of marital status, in modern conversation. It is normally considered correct to address a woman asMs. [Lastname], regardless of her marital status.
The dictionary definition ofMrs at Wiktionary