| 释义 |
Mrs
[Orig. an abbreviation of mistress.]
†1. In the 17th c. often written for mistress in all uses. Obs.
a1612Sir J. Harington Brief View (1653) 4 [Q. Eliz. to Abp. Parker's wife] And you (saith she), Madam, I may not call you, and Mrs. I am ashamed to call you, so as I know not what to call you, but yet I do thank you. 1615Sir G. Helwys in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 161 A man of Mrs. Turner's was sent..to meet his Mrs. at Ware. 1632B. Jonson Magn. Lady i. (1640) 19 [If he could] beget him a reputation, and marry an Emperours Daughter for his Mrs. 1637― Sad Sheph. ii. ii, I give 'hem yee; As presents Mrs. 1677W. Hubbard Narrative (1865) II. 158 Knowing enough before of their Villanys, how well soever her Mrs...might think of them. 1679Trials of White, & Other Jesuits 80 Pray Mrs. what did that Minister say to you..concerning Mr. Oates?
2. As a prefixed title of courtesy. Now pronounced |ˈmɪsɪs, ˈmɪsɪz|.
In the latter half of the 17th c. there was a general tendency to confine the use of written abbreviations to words of inferior syntactical importance, such as prefixed titles. The form Mrs. for mistress therefore fell into disuse exc. when prefixed to a name; and in this position the writing of the full form gradually became unusual. The contracted pronunciation, which in other applications of the word has never been more than a vulgarism (see missis), became, for the prefixed title, first a permitted colloquial licence, and ultimately the only allowable pronunciation. When this stage was reached, Mrs. (with the contracted pronunciation) became a distinct word from mistress. As to the chronology of these changes evidence is wanting; but it may be noted that Walker 1828 says that mistress as a title of civility is pronounced missis, and that ‘to pronounce the word as it is written would, in these cases, appear quaint and pedantick’.
a. Prefixed to the surname of a married woman (sometimes with her Christian name or that of her husband intervening). Also prefixed to the Christian name of the husband (without a following surname).
‘Originally distinctive of gentlewomen, the use of the prefix has gradually extended downwards; at the present time, every married woman who has no superior title is styled ‘Mrs.’ even though her husband is of so humble a position as not ordinarily to be referred to as ‘Mr.’. In British use the insertion of a woman's Christian name after Mrs. (as ‘Mrs. Mary Smith’) is rare exc. in legal documents, cheques, or the like, the normal practice when distinction is needed being to insert the husband's name (as ‘Mrs. John Smith’). In the U.S. both these modes of designation are in general use’ (N.E.D., 1908).
1615[see 1]. 1647Moder. Intell. No. 129. 1 Sept., Mrs. Car being a second wife of the said Mr. Car. 1745H. Walpole Let. to Mann 11 May, Just as a woman is not called Mrs. till she is married. 1794C. Pigott Female Jockey Club 54 Yet Mrs Bull is still tenacious of the honour of her master. a1817Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) III. vi. 103, I shall tell you, Miss Anne..that I have no very good opinion of Mrs. Charles's nursery-maid. 1819Shelley Peter Bell 3rd vi. ix. 2 And who Is Mrs. Foy? 1842Geo. Eliot Let. 18 Feb. (1954) I. 126, I imagine, from a message my sister Mrs. Isaac told me of, that you had the idea that I was at Griff. 1857C. M. Yonge Dynevor Terrace II. vi. 81 Is it in the nature of things that she should live in such society as Mrs. Walby's and Mrs. Richardson's? People who call her Mrs. James! 1870M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. iii. 66 Mrs. This and Mrs. That..approved of the..friends of their respective husbands. 1910E. M. Forster Howard's End xxxiii. 335 Mrs. Charles is expecting her fourth. 1953A. Christie Pocket Full of Rye iv. 28 ‘Who was at breakfast?’ ‘Mrs. Fortescue, Miss Fortescue, Mrs. Val Fortescue... Mrs. Val and Miss Fortescue always eat a hearty breakfast.’ 1971E. Lemarchand Death on Doomsday vi. 97 We know Mrs Giles has got a key into the public rooms.
†b. In the 17th and 18th c. prefixed to the name of an unmarried lady or girl; equivalent to the mod. use of miss n.2 Obs.
Late in the 18th c. the title (usually, but not always, followed by the Christian name) was applied occasionally to elderly maiden ladies (as ‘Mrs. Elizabeth Carter’, ‘Mrs. Hannah More’) after this use had ceased to be general.
c1645Howell Lett. (1655) I. v. 235 An ill-favoured quarrell..about Mrs. Baker, the Maid of honor. 1707Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) II. 17 Mrs. Molly Levins..Which Mrs. Levins is a Beautifull young Brisk Lady of about 16 or 17 Years of Age. 1722De Foe Col. Jack, etc. (1840) 342 Mrs. Veal was a maiden gentlewoman. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. i, His only sister Mrs. Grizzle..was now in the thirtieth year of her maidenhood. 1791Boswell Johnson an. 1781, The company was..Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, Sir Joshua Reynolds [etc.]. Ibid., Mrs. Carter said [etc.].
c. A wife (with ellipsis of the name of her husband). colloq.
1913R. Brooke Let. 22 Nov. (1968) 535 He passed through Fiji lately... Mrs, I gather, is not with him. 1938M. Allingham Fashion in Shrouds vi. 82 Paul Taretan is taking ‘three girls from totally different environments’, and ‘Mrs.’ has selected one rather beastly little boy. 1950J. Cannan Murder Included i. 9 Mr and Mrs Scampnell... Mrs has a daughter by her first husband. 1970A. Morice Death in Grand Manor iv. 35 Mr Cornford wasn't so bad..but Mrs was awful. 1974J. Montgomerie Implosion x. 67 Another picture of Mrs., side-view.
d. the Mrs.: one's wife. colloq.
The examples happen to be U.S. but the use is widespread: cf. missis 1.
1920[see monkey suit s.v. monkey n. 18 a]. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 103 The farmer will often refer to his wife as the Mrs. and he commonly addresses her as Wife. 1944Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. ii. 58 The Mrs., the wife. 1967E. Bullins Theme is Blackness (1973) 96 I'll have the Mrs. call the doctor as soon as I get home. 1973Philadelphia Inquirer (Today Suppl.) 7 Oct. 42/3 You know, when I go home, the Mrs. says to me: ‘Well, what happened tonight, night clerk?’
e. Prefixed to the surname of (the husband of) an actual or a fictional married woman, or to a generic n., indicating esp. a woman of a certain occupation or temperament, as Mrs. Beeton (abbr. Mrs. B.) [the name of Isabella Mary Beeton (1836–65), nominal author of a Book on Household Management], an authority on cooking and domestic subjects; also transf.; Mrs. Dale [the name of the wife of a doctor in a former radio serial], a conventional, middle-class woman; so Mrs. Dale-ish a., middle-class; Mrs. Grundy (see Grundy3); Mrs. Mop(p [the name of a charwoman in a radio series], (a nickname for) a charwoman; the typical charwoman; also attrib.; Mrs. next-door (see next door 1 b); Mrs. Thing [thing n.1 10], used in place of a married woman's name of which the speaker is uncertain.
1970Times 9 Feb. 8/6 Explains Ita Jones, Light's switched-on *Mrs B.: ‘Though serving up this food may blow some minds, remember that you eat the animal because you love it.’ 1960Listener 7 Jan. 18/2 The modern trick, I am told by Dr. Spock and the other *Mrs. Beetons of child care, is not to show anxiety to children.
1954A. Melville Simon & Laura in Plays of Year XI. 36 You probably get the idea it's to be a sort of TV ‘*Mrs Dale’. It's not: we want interesting people who meet other interesting people: people..with a bit of—..glamour, colour, excitement in their lives.
1961Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Nov. 851/1 The setting is suburban, even *Mrs. Dale-ish.
1948J. F. Wolfenden Public Schools To-day v. 99 A great deal of the welfare..of a boarding school depends upon the unsung ‘warrant officers and N.C.O.s’, from the school messenger to *Mrs. Mop. 1950A. Christie Murder is Announced vii. 60 Our Mrs Mopp says he came from one of the big hotels. 1956‘A. Gilbert’ Riddle of Lady x. 145 A machine in a Mrs Mopp apron. 1972Listener 27 July 105/1 Today's generation monotonously describe char⁓women as Mrs Mops.
1939N. Marsh Overture to Death iii. 41 The other one—*Mrs. Thing or whoever she is! 1960‘R. East’ Kingston Black xiv. 136 Old Mrs. Thing at the exchange may listen in. |