![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1975-098-26A, Amerikanische Soldaten und deutsches Fräulein](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1975-098-26A%2C_Amerikanische_Soldaten_und_deutsches_Fr%C3%A4ulein.jpg)
''Fräulein'' ( , ) is the
German language honorific for unmarried women, comparable to
Miss in English and
Mademoiselle in French.
Description
''Fräulein'' is the diminutive form of ''Frau'', which was previously reserved only for married women.
''Frau'' is in origin the equivalent of "My lady" or "Madam", a form of address of a noblewoman. But by an ongoing process of devaluation of honorifics, it came to be used as the unmarked term for "woman" by about 1800. Therefore, ''Fräulein'' came to be interpreted as expressing a "diminutive of woman", as it were, implying that a ''Fräulein'' is not-quite-a-woman. By the 1960s, this came to be seen as patronising by proponents of
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, partly because there is no equivalent male diminutive, and during the 1970s and 1980s, the term ''Fräulein'' became nearly taboo in urban and official settings, while it remained an unmarked standard in many rural areas. It is seen as sexist by modern feminists.
This process was somewhat problematic, at least during the 1970s to 1980s, since many
unmarried women of the older generation insisted on ''Fräulein'' as a term of distinction, respecting their status, and took the address of ''Frau'' as offensive or suggestive of extra-marital sexual experience.
From the 1970s, ''Fräulein'' was used less often, and it was banned from official use in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
in 1972 by the Minister of the Interior. Nevertheless, the word, as a title of address and in other uses, continues to be used, albeit in much reduced frequency.
Nowadays, style guides and dictionaries recommend that all women be addressed as ''Frau'' regardless of marital status, particularly in formal situations. A ''newsletter'' published on the website of the German dictionary
Duden
The Duden () is a dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880, and later by Bibliographisches Institut GmbH. The Duden is updated regularly with new editions appearing every four or five years. , ...
in 2002, for instance, noted that women should only be addressed as ''Fräulein'' when they specifically request this form of address.
One area in which the word still sees wide use is in the form of an admonishing address towards girls until about their mid-teens, usually by a parent.
See also
*
Outline of German expressions in English
The English language has incorporated various loanwords, terms, phrases, or quotations from the German language. A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language without translation. It is distinguis ...
*
Mademoiselle, a similar French title
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraulein
German words and phrases
Women's social titles