# Third Grade Q: Full Spelling of Ms. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995 "2012-03-07T01:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/1 "2012-03-07T01:31:29Z")
Homework time for the daughter. She shows me the popular abbreviated salutation for a woman that my grandmother described to me (her words) as a woman who was too mean to find a husband or too bitchy to admit she had one: Ms. Is there a full spelling for that word? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/2 "2012-03-07T01:36:55Z")
Nope, that’s it. With a period for the US, no period in the UK. Now it’s derived (like Miss and Mrs.) from Mistress, so if it’s a crossword and you need 8 letters… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/3 "2012-03-07T01:47:04Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nope, that’s it. With a period for the US, no period in the UK. Must be better in the UK. \*ducks 🙂 Oh, thanks for the answer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/4 "2012-03-07T12:22:50Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nope, that’s it. With a period for the US, no period in the UK. I’m told that the punctuation mark goes by the name “full stop” in the UK. Or is that only for ending a declarative sentence, allowing “period” to refer to the dot at the end of an abbreviation (whose terminal letter is different from that of the word it abbreviates)? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/5 "2012-03-07T12:32:36Z")
IMHO, the full spelling is “Ms” (no period anywhere in the known universe since it is not an abbreviation of anything). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/6 "2012-03-07T13:14:20Z")
That would probably come as something of a shock to the editors of [Ms. Magazine](http://www.msmagazine.com/). Or the US Government, who has used the “Ms.” form in official documents since the early '70s. In the US, accepted usage for titles are: Mister, Miss, Mrs., Ms. Since we don’t have any grammar police, once you’re out of school, you’re free to do as you like, but Ms. is far more common than Ms here. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/7 "2012-03-07T13:49:35Z")
[Manuscript.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS._Found_in_a_Bottle) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/8 "2012-03-07T14:46:40Z")
Ms. and Mrs. are both contractions of Mistress. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/9 "2012-03-07T15:41:38Z")
Etymology online [says](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Ms.&allowed_in_frame=0) it’s “a blend of _Miss_ and _Mrs_”. If that is correct it is based on the word “mistress”, but not actually an abbreviation. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/10 "2012-03-07T16:07:41Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Ms. and Mrs. are both contractions of Mistress. Mrs. is an abbreviation of Misses (I think). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/11 "2012-03-07T16:09:41Z")
“Near Miss”? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/12 "2012-03-07T16:13:20Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Mrs. is an abbreviation of Misses (I think). I believe that’s putting the cart before the horse. “Mrs.” is an abbreviation of “mistress” (note the “r”), and “missus” (or “missis,” but not “misses” which is the plural of “miss”) is a phonetic rendering of how “Mrs.” is pronounced. So first “mistress,” then “Mrs.,” then “missus.” ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/13 "2012-03-07T16:14:02Z")
Mrs. = Missus > **[Missus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missus)** > > Missus may signify ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/14 "2012-03-07T18:06:34Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Mrs. = Missus > > [Missus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missus) That’s not what your link says. It says exactly what **Gary T** wrote, that “missus” is how you pronounce “Mrs.” ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/15 "2012-03-08T03:03:57Z")
:mad: ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/16 "2012-03-08T04:12:31Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I believe that’s putting the cart before the horse. “Mrs.” is an abbreviation of “mistress” (note the “r”), and “missus” (or “missis,” but not “misses” which is the plural of “miss”) is a phonetic rendering of how “Mrs.” is pronounced. So first “mistress,” then “Mrs.,” then “missus.” And the plural of both “Mrs” and “Ms” is _Mmes_ (or _Mesdames_ in full) from French. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/third-grade-q-full-spelling-of-ms/614995/17 "2012-03-08T04:14:21Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > And the plural of both “Mrs” and “Ms” is _Mmes_ (or _Mesdames_ in full) from French. ``` The plurals are seldom used in modern writting, but according to Miss Manners would be correct when addressing a formal wedding invitation to a lesbian couple with the same surname. ```