{{Short description|Honorific for an unmarried woman}} {{About|the honorific for unmarried women|the honorific for women regardless of marital status|Ms.|the honorific for married women|Mrs.}} {{Redirect|Misses|the clothing size range|US standard clothing size#Women's sizes|other uses|Misses (disambiguation)}}
'''Miss''' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|s|}}) is an English-language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, it is a contraction of ''mistress''. The plural of ''Miss'' is ''Misses'' or occasionally ''Mses''.<ref name="yourdictionary">{{cite web |last1=Gormandy White |first1=Mary |title=Messrs., Mmes. and Mses.: Quick Guide to Meaning & Use |url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/abbreviations-mr-mmes-mses-guide |website=www.yourdictionary.com |access-date=14 August 2023 |date=2020}}</ref>
== History == === Origins === Like ''Ms'' and ''Mrs'', ''Miss'' has its roots in the title ''Mistress''. ''Miss'' 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.<ref name="Erickson">{{cite journal |last=Erickson |first=Amy Louise |title=Mistresses and Marriage: or, a Short History of the Mrs |journal=History Workshop Journal |volume=78 |issue=1 |date=Autumn 2014 |pages=39–57 |doi=10.1093/hwj/dbt00|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/dbt002|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
=== 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.<ref name="Erickson" /> 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.<ref name="Erickson" />
=== Racial discrimination === Being addressed with "Miss" or "Mrs." was frequently denied to Black women in the Southern United States in the past. Mary Hamilton, 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".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0yXQ8kq2gsC&pg=PT1207|page=1207|title=Prosecutorial Misconduct: Law, Procedure, Forms|first=Joseph F.|last=Lawless|publisher=LexisNexis|year=2008|isbn=9781422422137}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite magazine | title=Call Her Miss | magazine=Time | date=April 10, 1964 | accessdate=July 13, 2013 | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,875740,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050719075725/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,875740,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=July 19, 2005}} {{subscription required|s}}</ref> 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 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<ref name=LSAT>{{cite book | title=Barron's How to Prepare for the LSAT, Law School Admission Test | author=Bobrow, Jerry | page=587 | publisher=Barron's Educational Series | date=2005 | isbn=978-0-7641-2412-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBuAXRPCZzYC&pg=PA587 | accessdate=July 13, 2013 | archive-date=August 14, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814015255/https://books.google.com/books?id=SBuAXRPCZzYC&pg=PA587 | url-status=live }}</ref> and that calling a Black person by her or his first name in a formal context was "a form of racial discrimination."<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18021404763502537300|title=Hamilton v. Alabama, 376 US 650 – Supreme Court 1964 – Google Scholar|access-date=2022-11-06|archive-date=2022-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106210421/https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18021404763502537300|url-status=live}}</ref>
== See also == * Fräulein, the German equivalent of ''Miss'' * {{linktext|Fröken}}, an archaic Swedish equivalent of ''Miss'' * Mademoiselle, the French equivalent of ''Miss'' * Señorita, the Spanish equivalent of ''Miss''
== References == {{Reflist}} {{Social titles}}
Category:Women's social titles Category:Honorifics Category:History of women in the United Kingdom Category:History of women in the United States