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If 'Mr' is the abbreviation for 'Mister', what is 'Mrs' short for?

Question #132304. Asked by ozzz2002.
Last updated Jun 03 2021.
Originally posted Aug 24 2013 8:43 PM.

Related Trivia Topics: Vocabulary  
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kingofmates star
Answer has 2 votes
kingofmates star
14 year member
771 replies avatar

Answer has 2 votes.
Mrs. originated as a contraction of the honorific Mistress, the feminine of Mister, or Master, which was originally applied to both married and unmarried women. The split into Mrs. for married women from Ms. and Miss began during the 17th century.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs.

Aug 24 2013, 8:57 PM
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jasa9092 star
Answer has 1 vote
jasa9092 star avatar

Answer has 1 vote.
Direct quote from Oxford Dictionaries site:

"'Mistress' used to be the title prefixed to the name of a married woman, a usage dating back to the 15th century, as these early examples in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) show:

1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 36, I ... be qwethe to my maistresse Clopton a spoon of berell.

1471 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 443 Iff it come to Mestresse Elysabe? Hyggens ... sche schall comveye it to me. "

link https://www.dictionary.com/e/mr-mrs/

Response last updated by satguru on Jun 03 2021.
Aug 25 2013, 12:46 AM
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