English borrowed the french plural for this honorific after adopting messrs For the plural of mr. Generally speaking, it is considered proper etiquette to use mrs To refer to married women, miss to refer to unmarried women and young girls, and ms To refer to a woman of unknown marital status or when marital status is irrelevant. Originated as a contraction of the honorific mistress (the feminine of mister or master) which was originally applied to both married and unmarried women in the upper class
Writers who used mrs for unmarried women include daniel defoe, samuel richardson, henry fielding, and samuel johnson. Is a title used for a married woman The more neutral title ms Can be used instead for a woman whose marital status is unknown or irrelevant or who expresses a preference for this mode of address. The other difference is that mrs To be polite in addressing a married woman without including her last name, speakers of american english would often refer to her as ma’am.
Is typically used to address married women It indicates a woman’s marital status and is often used alongside her husband’s name.
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