2006-10-13 09:15:38 · 14 answers · asked by amesbh 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
but it is PRONOUNCED "misses", but WRITTEN "Mrs".
2006-10-13 09:22:09 · update #1
You don't say "Mistress Smith", for example.
2006-10-13 09:22:49 · update #2
Ok each of you has gotten a tiny bit of the etymology correct.
Mrs. is and abbreviated form of the word Mistress that came into popularity as an abbreviation in coresspondance in the late 1500's. The word Mistress is the feminine of the word Master and was used to denote the formal position of the wife as keeper of the house. (If one was not married the title was used of the bachelors mother or unmarried sister if they resided in the same house.) The abrreviation later came to be used only for women who are married or widowed.
2006-10-13 09:34:10 · answer #1 · answered by mysacryfice 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's Mistress but people say Misses instead because it's easier. But, Mrs is the abbreviation for Mistress nonetheless.
2006-10-13 09:33:17 · answer #2 · answered by Coco 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Abbreviation For Mistress
2016-10-28 10:59:29 · answer #3 · answered by norvell 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mrs. is the abbreviation for Mistress. Not Misses.
2006-10-13 09:54:59 · answer #4 · answered by Sunseaandair 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Missus is a distortion of the word "Mistress", as in the master and mistress of the house. Hence the R in Mrs.
2006-10-13 09:21:22 · answer #5 · answered by Oracle at Delphi 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The word for Misses used to be Mistress!
2006-10-13 09:17:24 · answer #6 · answered by Zebra4 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
so there would be a difference between Ms. - nonmarried woman, or if u don't know- and Mrs. - married woman.
A long time ago when men got the title Mr. women hated it because you didn't know whether they were married or not... so we developed the title Ms.
2006-10-13 15:43:27 · answer #7 · answered by yuna 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
RE:
Why is the abbreviation for "Misses" "Mrs." when there is no 'r' in the full word?
2015-08-02 00:21:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i was always under the impression that back in the day, they used this as a possessive title, originally written as "Mr's" meaning that the wife "belonged" to the husband. i have no literal definition or meaning though. hope this helped!
2006-10-13 09:18:42 · answer #9 · answered by vrandolph62 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Its actually Mistress, thats where the "r" comes from.
2006-10-13 09:17:59 · answer #10 · answered by RACQUEL 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋