Miss

The content on this page originated on Wikipedia and is yet to be significantly improved. Contributors are invited to replace and add material to make this an original article.

Miss (a mid 17th century abbreviation of "Mistress") is a title prefixed to the name of an unmarried woman or a girl. The title is also used by a married woman who retains her maiden name, usually for professional purposes, although nowadays Ms. can be used instead. It is a polite form of address to a young woman or a woman of inferior social rank; and in British English as an address to a female teacher: 'Please, Miss...'. It is also the title given to the winner of a beauty contest, as in 'Miss World'.

'Miss' is also used in other contexts, some of which are now obsolete:

• with surname only (e.g. Miss Doe), when addressing the eldest unmarried daughter - and it is for this reason that it was deemed inappropriate to call (Miss) Jane Austen simply 'Miss Austen', as this referred to her elder sister Cassandra
• in the American South as a title for women in general or as addressed by servants (e.g., Miss Ellen)
• in the plural form ("Misses") as an address to unmarried sisters (chiefly British, now obsolete)

Foreign equivalents

There are numerous equivalents to this title in other languages. Some of them are:

• Chinese 小姐 (xiao2 jie3)
• Danish Frøken (Frk.)
• Dutch Juffrouw (Mej.)
• Estonian Preili
• Finnish Neiti (Nti)
• French Mademoiselle (Mlle)
• German Fräulein (Frl.)
• Greek Δεσπινής
• Hebrew עלמה
• Irish Iníon or Ógbhean-uasal
• Italian Signorina (Sig.na)
• Norwegian Frøken (Frk.)
• Polish Panna
• Portuguese Menina (Mna.) or Senhorita (Srta.)
• Romanian "Domnişoară"
• Scots Gaelic Maighdeann(-uasal) (Mh(uas).)
• Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian Gospođica (Gđica)
• Slovenian Gospodična (Gdč.)
• Spanish Señorita (Srta.)
• Swedish Fröken (Frk.)
• Welsh Bonesig