Why is a married lady referred to as Mrs. Jane Doe, when there is no R sounded in the pronunciation of the title?

satguru

Though the origin is obscure, the best theory is Mrs is an abbreviation of mistress, so uses the m and r from mister, plus the final s of mistress to make it clear. So it's quite possible the whole word was used as mistress when saying Mrs, but got corrupted to the word we use now (which still hasn't been given an official spelling, but usually accepted simply as 'Mrs'. Oct 08 04, 7:04 PM

triviasoprano

Yes; it actually used to be reputable to be a mistress, since it is the feminine version of the patriarchal master. But when the term mistress took on a negative connotation, married women preferred being called 'Mrs'. Oct 09 04, 6:39 AM