Miss (pronounced ) is an

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

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 academic title. It ...

typically used for a

girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

, for an unmarried

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

(when not using another title such as "

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

" or "

Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

"), 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 that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...

. 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 term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

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

Usage

When used as a title, ''Miss'' is placed before the whole name or only the surname of the person. As a form of address, ''Miss'' used alone can also be a polite and formal way to directly address a young and/or unmarried woman. In Australian, British, and Irish schools, it is often used by pupils in addressing any female

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

History

Origins

Like '' Ms'' and ''Mrs'', ''Miss'' has its roots in the title ''Mistress'', and 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, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

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 Ballad 1 ...

, a civil rights protester arrested in 1963 in Gadsden, Alabama, 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 involve a point o ...

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 their first name in a formal context was "a form of racial discrimination."

References