Mrs

See also: mrs, MRS, and Mrs.

English

Alternative forms

• Mris. (obsolete)
• Mrs. (US, Canada)
• M^rs

Etymology

From mistress.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪsɪz/, /-səz/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪsɪz/, /-sɪs/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (US dialects, especially Southern US, Michigan) enPR: mĭs IPA^(key): /ˈmɪs/, /ˈmɪz/
• Homophones: Misses, misses, Ms, miss (see further homophones in Ms)
• Rhymes: -ɪsɪz

Noun

Mrs (plural Mmes or Mesdames or (rare) Mrses)

1. Abbreviation of Missus or Mistress (used before an adult woman's name or surname, used for any high-status woman without regard to marital status until the 1800s, after which it began to be reserved for married, divorced and widowed women and used with their married surnames)
   • 1775 January 17 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The Rivals, a Comedy. […], London: […] John Wilkie, […], published 1775, →OCLC, Act III, scene iii, page 52:

     Mrs Mal[aprop]. O, there's nothing to be hoped for from her! ſhe's as headſtrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter IV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), pages 40–41:

     In a large bedroom upstairs, the window of which was thickly curtained with a great woollen shawl lately discarded by the landlady, Mrs. Rolliver, were gathered on this evening nearly a dozen persons, all seeking vinous bliss; all old inhabitants of the nearer end of Marlott, and frequenters of this retreat.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […] and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

Coordinate terms

• (titles) (of a man): Mr (Mister, mister), Sir (sir); (of a woman): Ms (Miz, mizz), Mrs (Mistress, mistress), Miss (miss), Dame (dame), Madam (madam, ma'am); (of a non-binary person): Mx (Mixter); (see also): Dr (Doctor, doctor) ^{(Category: en:Titles)}

Derived terms

• missus
• misses
• Mrs. Grundy
• Mrs Miggins

Related terms

• Ms / Ms. (title for an adult female)
• Miss

Descendants

• → Yiddish: מיסעס (mises)

Translations

title before a woman's name

• Afrikaans: mev.
• Arabic: سَيِّدَة f (sayyida), مَدَام f (madām)
• Armenian: տ-ն (t-n), տկն. (tkn.), տիկին (hy) (tikin)
• Belarusian: па́ні f (páni), спада́рыня f (spadárynja), мі́сіс f (mísis) (Anglophone context)
• Bulgarian: госпожа́ (bg) f (gospožá)
• Catalan: Na (ca) f, N' f (prevocalic), Sra. (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: -夫人 (zh) (-fūrén), -太太 (zh) (-tàitài)

• Czech: p. (cs), pí (cs), paní (cs) f
• Danish: fr. (da)
• Dutch: mevr. (nl), mw., mevrouw (nl) f
• Esperanto: S-ino (eo)
• Estonian: Pr
• Finnish: Rva, rva (fi)
• French: Mme. (fr) f, Mme (fr) f
• Georgian: ქალბატონი (kalbaṭoni)
• German: Fr. (de)
• Greek: κα (el) f (ka)
• Hebrew: גב׳ f (gvéret) (abbreviation), גְּבֶרֶת (he) m (gvéret)
• Hindi: जी (hi) f (jī), श्रीमती (hi) f (śrīmtī), साहिबा f (sāhibā)
• Hungarian: -né (hu)
• Icelandic: fr.
• Indonesian: Ibu (id), Nyonya
• Interlingua: sra, seniora
• Irish: Bh
• Italian: Sig.ra
• Japanese: -夫人 (ja) (-ふじん, -fujin), -さん (ja) (-san), -様 (ja) (-さま, -sama)
• Kabuverdianu: nha
• Khmer: អ្នកស្រី (neak srey)
• Korean: 씨 (ko) (-ssi), 님 (ko) (-nim), 미시스 (misiseu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: xanim (ku)

• Lithuanian: Ponia, ponia f
• Macedonian: Г-ѓа f (G-ǵa), госпоѓа f (gospoǵa)
• Malagasy: Ramatoa f
• Malay: puan
• Maltese: Sinjura
• Maori: Mihi
• Mongolian: -гуай (mn) (-guaj), хатагтай (mn) (xatagtaj)
• Norwegian: fru (archaic), Fr (archaic)
• Persian: خانم (fa) (xânom), مادام (fa) (mâdâm)
• Polish: p. (pl) (Pani), pani (pl) f
• Portuguese: Sra
• Romanian: Dna f
• Russian: госпожа́ (ru) f (gospožá), г-жа (ru) f (g-ža), мада́м (ru) f (madám) (dated), ми́ссис (ru) f (míssis) (Anglophone context)
• Scottish Gaelic: A' Bh (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гђа f, го̏спођа f

  Roman: gđa f, gȍspođa (sh) f

• Slovak: pani f
• Slovene: Ga (sl), gospá (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: kněni f

• Sotho: Mme
• Spanish: Sra. (es) f, Señora f
• Swahili: Bi
• Swedish: fru (sv)
• Tagalog: Ginang, Gng., Misis (informal)
• Thai: นาง (th) (naang), คุณ (th) (kun)
• Tswana: mma
• Ukrainian: па́ні (uk) f (páni), мі́сіс f (mísis) (Anglophone context)
• Urdu: صاحبہ f (sāhiba)
• Vietnamese: bà (vi), cô (vi)
• Yiddish: מיסעס f (mises) (US)

Anagrams

• MSR, RMS, RMs, RSM, SMR, SRM

French

Noun

M^rs m

1. plural of M^r

Usage notes

• See usage notes at M.

See also

• M^lles
• M^mes