mistress
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂-der.?
Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-der.?
Proto-Italic *magisteros
Latin magister, magistrum
Old French maistre
Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa)bor.
Latin -issader.
Old French -esse
Old French maistressebor.
Middle English maistresse
English mistress
From Middle English maistresse, from Old French maistresse (whence French maîtresse), feminine of maistre (“master”). By surface analysis, mist(e)r + -ess.
Inflected forms:
form: mistresses
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: mistris
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: mistresses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: mistressing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: mistressed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: mistressed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: mistris
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership.
pos: noun
examples: She was the mistress of the estate-mansion, and owned the horses.
At the far end of the houses the head gardener stood waiting for his mistress, and he gave her strips of bass to tie up her nosegay. This she did slowly and laboriously, with knuckly old fingers that shook.
gloss: A female head of household.
pos: noun
gloss: A female teacher.
pos: noun
examples: games mistress
gloss: The other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations.
pos: noun
gloss: A dominatrix.
pos: noun
examples: As part of BDSM play they can enhance the domineering tread of a mistress or hobble the steps of a slave.
gloss: A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it.
pos: noun
examples: A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic.
gloss: A woman regarded with love and devotion; a sweetheart.
pos: noun
examples: he could not forbear putting his horse out of the way , and rode with his mistress behind him round about it
gloss: A married woman; a wife.
pos: noun
tags: Scotland
examples: Several of the neighbouring mistresses […] had assembled to witness the event of this memorable evening.
gloss: A respectful mode of address to a woman.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
gloss: The jack in the game of bowls.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: Faith, keep a bachelor still, and go to bowls, sir, Follow your mistress there, and prick and save, sir; For other mistresses will make you a slave, sir
She took a bowl, drew up her skirt with her left hand, and rolled the weighted ball with a deft motion. It lightly kissed the mistress and stopped a few inches away.
gloss: A female companion to a master (a man with control, authority or ownership).
pos: noun
gloss: Of a woman: to master; to learn or develop to a high degree of proficiency.
pos: verb
tags: rare
transitive
examples: These films give a glimpse of women on the way to mistressing their own destiny.
gloss: To act or take the role of a mistress.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: […] housewifery, maternity, charity, the life conventual, the chatter of a court, the mistressing of a great house […]
Synonyms: bit on the side
concubine
doxy
dulcinea
goomah
leman
loon
minx
mistress
number two
side bitch
side chick
side piece
side ting
sprunk
strumpet
wench
wifelet
Antonyms: wife
Derived words: ballet mistress
bandmistress
beastmistress
blogmistress
choirmistress
concertmistress
cruel mistress
dockmistress
dungeon mistress
fickle mistress
game mistress
grandmistress
guildmistress
harbormistress
harsh mistress
headmistress
herbmistress
housemistress
Jill of all trades, mistress of none
jobmistress
loremistress
manstress
misteress
mistressdom
mistresshood
mistressless
mistressly
mistressmind
mistress of ceremonies
mistress of the robes
mistresspiece
Mistress Santa Claus
mistressship
mistressy
Mrs
Mrs.
Miss
miss
Ms
Ms.
past mistress
paymistress
postmistress
quartermistress
quizmistress
ringmistress
runemistress
schoolmistress
scoutmistress
shipmistress
slavemistress
spellmistress
spymistress
stationmistress
subpostmistress
swordmistress
swordsmistress
taskmistress
toastmistress
wagonmistress
wardrobe mistress
webmistress
whoremistress
workmistress
Translations: