Miss (pronounced ) is an

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...

typically used for a

girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. '' daughter'' or '' girlfriend'' regardless of age ...

, for an unmarried

woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

(when not using another title such as "

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

" or "

Dame ''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronet, Baronetesses Suo jure, in their own right also u ...

"), or for a married woman retaining her

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...

. Originating in the 17th century, it is a contraction of ''

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

''. The plural of ''Miss'' is ''Misses'' or occasionally ''Mses''.

History

Origins

Like '' Ms'' and ''Mrs'', ''Miss'' has its roots in the title ''Mistress''. ''Miss'' was originally a title given primarily to children rather than adults. During the 1700s, its usage broadened to encompass adult women. The title emerged as a polite way to address women, reflecting changing societal norms and class distinctions. Prior to this, referring to an adult woman as a ''Miss'' might have carried connotations of prostitution.

Evolution of meanings and usage

The meanings of both ''Miss'' and ''Mrs'' underwent transformations over time. Historically, these titles did not solely indicate marital status. Even after the adoption of ''Miss'' by many adult single women in 18th-century England, ''Mrs'' continued to signify social or business standing, rather than merely marital status, until at least the mid-19th century.

Racial discrimination

Being addressed with "Miss" or "Mrs." was frequently denied to Black women in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

in the past.

Mary Hamilton "Mary Hamilton", or "The Fower Maries" ("The Four Marys"), is a common name for a well-known sixteenth-century ballad from Scotland based on an apparently fictional incident about a lady-in-waiting to a Queen of Scotland. It is Child Ballads, C ...

, a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

protester arrested in 1963 in

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statist ...

, refused to answer the prosecutor in a subsequent hearing unless he stopped addressing her as "Mary", demanding that instead she be called "Miss Hamilton". She was subsequently jailed for contempt of court after refusing to pay a fine. This led to '' Hamilton v. Alabama'', 376 U.S. 650 (1964), a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

case in which the court held that Mary Hamilton was entitled to the same courteous forms of address customarily reserved solely for whites in the southern United States and that calling a Black person by her or his first name in a formal context was "a form of racial discrimination."

References

{{Social titles Women's social titles Honorifics History of women in the United Kingdom History of women in the United States

History

Origins

Evolution of meanings and usage

Racial discrimination

See also

References