FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Fun Trivia
Home: Questions and Answers Forum
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


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  
avatar
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
avatar
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
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion

Related FunTrivia Quizzes

play quiz 'Mister'...ry
(Thematic People)
play quiz Call Me "Mister"
(TV Trivia for Experts)
play quiz Mister Roberts
(Mister Roberts)

Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.