Definition 1: A formal title of courtesy for a woman without regard to the marital status reflected in "Mrs." and "Miss."

Usage 1: Today's abbreviation for "mistress" is followed by a period in the US. Outside the US, periods are often omitted after abbreviations that end on the same letter as the full form. Those who follow this (British) style write, "Mr" but "Rev.," "Ms" but "Prof." No one seems to place a period after "Miss." Interestingly, "mistress" is the full form of "Miss" [mis], referring to an unmarried woman, "Mrs." ['mis-iz] referring to a married woman, and "Ms.," referring to a woman regardless of marital status. All are always capitalized.

Suggested usage: Today's word is most popular in the US, where it originated, since it refers to females the same as the masculine Mr. "mister." It is associated with feminism, which promoted it in the 80s (especially through the magazine "Ms."). It is used by those women who do not wish their form of address to convey their marital status and by anyone addressing a woman without knowing her marital status: "Mr. Cawley, would like you and Ms. Flower like a seat near the buffet?"

Etymology: The full form of today's word (mistress) descended from "maistresse," the feminine of Old French maistre "master" derived from Latin magister "master, chief, head." The original underlying root was *mag- "great," which went on to give us "much," "mickle," "might," and Latin magnus "great." The root of "magnus" is visible in many borrowings from Latin, such as "magnanimous," "magnify," "magnificent." In Sanskrit this root became maha "great," seen in maharajah "great king" from maha "great" + raja "king," a relative of our "royal." (Mr. Marcos Daniel of Brazil wanted to know more about gender and the English forms of polite address. We hope to have addressed the issue satisfactorily.)