Ms.

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English honorific title for women regardless of marital status

title: "Ms." type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["17th-century-neologisms", "honorifics", "women's-social-titles", "history-of-women-in-the-united-kingdom", "history-of-women-in-the-united-states"] description: "English honorific title for women regardless of marital status" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms." license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English honorific title for women regardless of marital status ::

Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed){{cite book |title=Longman pronunciation dictionary r |first=John C. |last= Wells |publisher=Longman |location=Harlow, England |year=1990 |isbn=0-582-05383-8 |page=463

It is followed by a full stop, or period, in Canada and the United States, but not in many other English-speaking countries.

Historical development and revival of the term

Miss and Mrs., both derived from the then formal Mistress, like Mister did not originally indicate marital status. Ms. was another acceptable, but rarely used, abbreviation for Mistress in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. During the 19th century, however, Mrs. and Miss came to be associated almost exclusively with marital status, and Ms. was popularized as an alternative in the late 20th century.

The earliest known proposal for the modern revival of Ms. as a title appeared in The Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts, on November 10, 1901:

Now, clearly, what is needed is a more comprehensive term which does homage to the sex without expressing any views as to their domestic situation, and what could be simpler or more logical than the retention of what the two doubtful terms have in common. The abbreviation Ms is simple, it is easy to write, and the person concerned can translate it properly according to circumstances. For oral use it might be rendered as "Mizz," which would be a close parallel to the practice long universal in many bucolic regions, where a slurred Mis' does duty for Miss and Mrs alike.}}

The term was again suggested as a convenience to writers of business letters by publications including the Bulletin of the American Business Writing Association (1951) and The Simplified Letter, issued by the National Office Management Association (1952).

In 1961, Sheila Michaels attempted to put the term into use when she saw what she thought was a typographical error on the address label of a copy of News & Letters sent to her roommate. Michaels "was looking for a title for a woman who did not 'belong' to a man." She knew the separation of the now common terms Miss and Mrs. had derived from Mistress, but one could not suggest that women use the original title with its now louche connotations. Her efforts to promote use of a new honorific were at first ignored.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Gloria_Steinam_Endorsement_(3838080804).jpg" caption="Gloria Steinem, who founded the magazine Ms., popularising the term." alt="Gloria Steinem, who founded the magazine Ms., popularising the term"] ::

In 1969, during a lull in an interview with The Feminists group on WBAI-FM radio in New York City, Michaels suggested the use of Ms. A friend of Gloria Steinem heard the interview and suggested it as a title for her new magazine. The magazine Ms. debuted on newsstands in January 1972, and its much-publicized name quickly led to widespread usage. In February 1972, the US Government Printing Office approved the use of Ms. in official government documents. In 1976, Marvel Comics introduced a new superhero named Ms. Marvel, billing her as the "first feminist superhero."

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Geraldine_Ferraro,_first_female_Vice_Presidential_candidate_running_with_Presidential_candidate_Walter_Mondale,visits_University_of_Texas_at_Arlington_campus(10006337).jpg" caption="Geraldine Ferraro, whose case encouraged the recognition of "Ms."" alt="Geraldine Ferraro, who argued the case for recognition of "Ms""] ::

Even several public opponents of such usage, including William Safire, were finally convinced that Ms. had earned a place in English by the case of US Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro, a United States vice-presidential candidate in 1984, was a married woman who, like many women, used her birth surname professionally rather than her husband's (Zaccaro). Safire, though saying "it breaks my heart," admitted in 1984 that it would be equally incorrect to call her "Miss Ferraro" (as she was married) or "Mrs. Ferraro" (as her husband was not "Mr. Ferraro")—and that calling her "Mrs. Zaccaro" would confuse the reader.

Usage

Suggestions about how Ms. should be used, or whether it should be used at all, are varied, with more criticism in the U.K. than in the U.S.

The Daily Telegraph states in its style guide that Ms should only be used if a subject requests it herself and it "should not be used merely because we do not know whether the woman is Mrs or Miss." The Guardian, which restricts its use of honorific titles to leading articles, states in its style guide: "use Ms for women ... unless they have expressed a preference for Miss or Mrs." A BBC Academy style guide states, "In choosing between Miss, Mrs and Ms, try to find out what the person herself uses, and stick to that." The New York Times embraces the use of all three: Mrs., Miss, and Ms., and will follow the individual's preferences.

The default use of Ms., especially for business purposes, is championed by some American sources, including Judith Martin (a.k.a. Miss Manners). Concerning business, the Emily Post Institute states, "Ms. is the default form of address, unless you know positively that a woman wishes to be addressed as Mrs." The American Heritage Book of English Usage states, "Using Ms. obviates the need for the guesswork involved in figuring out whether to address someone as Mrs. or Miss: you can't go wrong with Ms. Whether the woman you are addressing is married or unmarried, has changed her name or not, Ms. is always correct."

Criticism

Many British etiquette writers and famous figures do not support the use of Ms, including Charles Kidd, the editor of Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, who claims the usage is "not very helpful" and that he had been "brought up to address a married woman as Mrs John Smith, for example." However, he also adds that "If someone does want to be called Ms then that's fine." but also stated that he had never been asked to change someone's form of address from Miss or Mrs to Ms. Debrett's itself, concerning the case of a married woman who chooses not to take her husband's name, states, "The ugly-sounding Ms is problematic. Although many women have assumed this bland epithet, it remains incorrect to use it when addressing a social letter." The former British Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Ann Widdecombe has stated, "I can't see the point of Ms and I don't see it as an issue", whilst author and journalist Jessica Fellowes describes the title Ms as "ghastly." The King's English Society has criticised the use of Ms as "an abbreviation that is not short for anything", describing it as a "linguistic misfit [that] came about because certain women suddenly became sensitive about revealing their marital status."

Notes

References

  1. "Definition of Ms.".
  2. "Ms".
  3. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pronunciation with final /-z/ would appear to have arisen as a result of deliberate attempts to distinguish between this word and miss ''n.2''; compare mizz ''n.'', and perhaps also Miz ''n.1''" — [mizz ''n.'': Etymology: Representing the spoken realization of Ms ''n.2'' (see discussion at that entry)]. Accessed 2012-07-25.
  4. "Emily Post's Guide to Addressing Correspondence: Addressing a Woman". The Emily Post Institute.
  5. Zimmer, Ben. (2009-06-23). "Hunting the Elusive First 'Ms.'". The Visual Thesaurus.
  6. "Abbreviations : Capital Letters and Abbreviations".
  7. Spender, Dale. (1981). "Man Made Language". Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  8. Stannard, Una. (1977). "Mrs Man". Germainbooks.
  9. Buxton, Alexandra. (September 12, 2014). "Mistress, Miss, Mrs or Ms: untangling the shifting history of women's titles". New Statesman America.
  10. Luu, Chi. (November 8, 2017). "From the Mixed-Up History of Mrs., Miss, and Ms.". JSTOR Daily.
  11. Martin, Judith. (October 11, 2009). "What's in a name?". [[Buffalo News]].
  12. Martin, Judith. (1990-11-15). "Miss Manners' Guide for the Turn of the Millennium". [[Simon & Schuster]].
  13. (2009). "Ms.". Houghton Mifflin Company.
  14. Jeffs, Angela. (November 5, 2000). "Missing piece of puzzle in story of 'Ms.'". [[The Japan Times]] Online.
  15. Michaels, Sheila. (March–April 2008). "Forty Years of Defying the Odds". [[Solidarity (U.S.).
  16. Kay, Eve. (28 June 2007). "Call Me Ms". [[The Guardian]].
  17. Fishko, Sara. (June 28, 2012). "Fishko Files: Ms.". WNYC.
  18. Zimmer, Ben. (2009-10-25). "On Language: Ms.". [[The New York Times]].
  19. Safire, William. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/05/magazine/on-language-goodbye-sex-hello-gender.html?pagewanted=1 On Language: Goodbye Sex, Hello Gender]", ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 5, 1984, Section 6 p. 8.
  20. (19 February 2008). "Telegraph style book: names and titles". Telegraph.co.uk.
  21. (August 2009). "The Guardian Style Guide: Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss". The Guardian.
  22. "Names". BBC Academy.
  23. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/magazine/25FOB-onlanguage-t.html Zimmer, Ben. "On Language: Ms."] ''The New York Times''. 23 October 2009.
  24. Siegal, Allan M., Connolly, William G. "Courtesy title". ''The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative News Organization''. Random House USA Incorporated, 2015. {{ISBN. 9781101905449. Page 79.
  25. Martin, Judith. "Miss Manners: How and When to Use 'Ms.' in Business Correspondence". [[MSN]].
  26. "Guide to Addressing Correspondence".
  27. (31 October 2007). "The American Heritage Book of English Usage".
  28. "Mrs? Or is that Ms, Miss?". BBC News.
  29. Fellowes, Jessica. "Etiquette: Mind your 'please' and cues".
  30. "ERROR – Ms".

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17th-century-neologismshonorificswomen's-social-titleshistory-of-women-in-the-united-kingdomhistory-of-women-in-the-united-states