Mistress \Mis"tress\, n. [OE. maistress, OF. maistresse, F.
ma[^i]tresse, LL. magistrissa, for L. magistra, fem. of
magister. See Master, Mister, and cf. Miss a young
woman.]
1. A woman having power, authority, or ownership; a woman who
exercises authority, is chief, etc.; the female head of a
family, a school, etc.
The late queen's gentlewoman! a knight's daughter!
To be her mistress' mistress! --Shak.
2. A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery
over it.
A letter desires all young wives to make themselves
mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic. --Addison.
3. A woman regarded with love and devotion; she who has
command over one's heart; a beloved object; a sweetheart.
[Poetic] --Clarendon.
4. A woman filling the place, but without the rights, of a
wife; a concubine; a loose woman with whom one consorts
habitually. --Spectator.
5. A title of courtesy formerly prefixed to the name of a
woman, married or unmarried, but now superseded by the
contracted forms, Mrs., for a married, and Miss, for an
unmarried, woman.
Now Mistress Gilpin (careful soul). --Cowper.
6. A married woman; a wife. [Scot.]
Several of the neighboring mistresses had assembled
to witness the event of this memorable evening.
--Sir W.
Scott.
7. The old name of the jack at bowls. --Beau. & Fl.
To be one's own mistress, to be exempt from control by
another person.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|