English

Noun

Mistress ‎(plural Mistresses)

1. (archaic) Used as the title of a married woman before her name. Now used only in the abbreviated form Mrs.
   • 1857, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, book 2, chapter 10

     The sound of Mistress Affery cautiously chaining the door before she opened it, caused them both to look that way.

See also

• Master

English

Noun

mistress ‎(plural mistresses)

1. A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 19, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     At the far end of the houses the head gardener stood waiting for his mistress, and he gave her strips of bass to tie up her nosegay. This she did slowly and laboriously, with knuckly old fingers that shook.

   She was the mistress of the estate-mansion, and owned the horses.‎

2. A female teacher.

   games mistress‎

3. A female partner in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations.
4. A dominatrix.
   • 2006, Amelia May Kingston, The Triumph of Hope (page 376)

     As part of BDSM play they can enhance the domineering tread of a mistress or hobble the steps of a slave.

5. A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it.
   • Addison

     A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic.

6. A woman regarded with love and devotion; a sweetheart.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Clarendon to this entry?)

7. (Scotland) A married woman; a wife.
   • Sir Walter Scott

     Several of the neighbouring mistresses had assembled to witness the event of this memorable evening.

8. (obsolete) The jack in the game of bowls.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaumont and Fletcher to this entry?)

9. female companion to a master (a man with control, authority or ownership)
10. feminine equivalent of master

Usage notes

In the sexual sense, mistress is narrowly taken to mean a woman involved in a committed extramarital relationship (an affair), often supported financially (a kept woman). It is broadly taken to mean a woman involved in an extramarital relationship regardless of the level of commitment, but requires more than a single act of adultery.^[1]

Synonyms

• (woman with control, authority or ownership): boss (applicable to either sex), head (applicable to either sex), leader (applicable to either sex)
• (female teacher): schoolmarm
• (woman who displaces a wife in the affections of a man): bit on the side (applicable to either sex), fancy woman, comaré, goomah
• See also Wikisaurus:mistress

Antonyms

Male equivalents:

• (woman with control, authority or ownership): master
• (female teacher): master
• (female partner in an extramarital affair): cicisbeo, fancy man
• (dominatrix): master

Derived terms

Translations

See also

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

Verb

mistress ‎(third-person singular simple present mistresses, present participle mistressing, simple past and past participle mistressed)

1. (transitive) Of a woman: to master; to learn to a high degree of proficiency.

References

1. ↑ Tiger Woods Does Not Have 11 “Mistresses”: His many paramours aren’t committed enough to merit that term. by Jesse Sheidlower, Slate.com, Dec. 10, 2009.