mister

Less common meanings

5. 5
   nounarchaic

   A kind or type of something.

   What mister-chance hath brought thee to the field Without thy sheepe?

   1772, William Browne, The Works of William Browne: Containing Britannia's Pastorals

   For als he been a mister wight Betray'd by wandering in the night To tread the circled haunt;

   1779, Samuel Johnson, “A Fairy Tale”

   Note

   Here the word behaves almost like an adjective, placed straight before its noun with no "of." In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590), the Redcrosse knight seeks to learn "what mister wight" (what kind of creature) is so dismayed. The words "mister wight" also occur in Thomas Parnell's "A Fairy Tale," and William Browne's The Shepherd's Pipe hyphenates "mister-chance." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • In the cited construction, mister precedes its noun without of and means kind of. upload.wikimedia.org
   • Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene, whose first three books appeared in 1590. en.wikisource.org
6. 6
   nounobsolete

   Someone's occupation, employment, or proper business.

   Note

   An entirely different word from the title. Middle English mister came through Anglo-Norman mester from Latin misterium, a medieval blend of ministerium "ministry" and mysterium "mystery." Its doublet métier keeps the idea of one's proper work alive. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The occupation noun has a different origin from the title mister, which derives from master. en.wiktionary.org
   • Middle English mister derives through Anglo-Norman mester from Latin misterium. en.wiktionary.org
   • Misterium represents medieval conflation of ministerium, meaning ministry, and mysterium, meaning mystery. en.wiktionary.org
   • Métier is a doublet of the occupation noun mister. en.wiktionary.org
   • Métier retains meanings relating to a person's profession or suitable activity. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   nounobsolete

   Need or necessity, or an occasion on which something is needed.

   England, that stands muckle in mister of a Reformation.

   1692, Jacob Curate, The Scotch Presbyterian eloquence

   He is richt gude, Ane man of wealth and nobill blude, Bot hes mair mister of ane Hude.

   1603, Ane verie excellent and delectabill treatise intitulit Philotus

   Note

   Need in the sense of lack, built with "of." In this sense a man "hes mair mister of ane Hude," and England "stands muckle in mister of a Reformation." It comes from the same Anglo-Norman word as the "occupation" noun and lives almost entirely in Scots writing, from Philotus (1603) to the older verse John Pinkerton reprinted in 1792. One of those poems pairs it with its synonym: "sik mister, and sik neid." Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts

   • Mister can mean need of something and occur with of. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted wording about a man's need of a hood occurs in Philotus. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quotation about England needing reformation is accurately reproduced. en.wiktionary.org
   • The need and occupation senses share the Anglo-Norman origin. en.wiktionary.org
   • Philotus was first published in 1603. wee-windaes.nls.uk
   • Pinkerton's 1792 publication reprinted older verse containing the cited expression. deriv.nls.uk
   • The older poem pairs mister with its synonym neid. deriv.nls.uk
8. 8
   verbobsolete

   To be necessary; to matter.

   As for my name, it mistreth not to tell; Call me the Squyre of Dames that me beseemeth well.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

   I mister not to write mair of Bissiness to zour Lordschip; bot, as I hear, how soon the Compris of thair Factoris is hard, that thai will gif thame new Commissionis again, or utheris in thair Placis.

   1734, Robert Keith, The History of the Affairs of Chuch and State in Scotland

   Note

   An impersonal verb that keeps company with "not." In Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590), the Squire of Dames says of his name that "it mistreth not to tell," meaning there is no need to tell it. A letter printed in Robert Keith's History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland (1734) gives it a personal subject instead: "I mister not to write mair." Today "it matters not" or "need not" does this work. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • The verb has an impersonal use with a negative. en.wiktionary.org
   • Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene, whose first three books were first published in 1590. en.wikisource.org
   • The Squire of Dames speaks the quoted words about his name. pages.uoregon.edu
   • The quotation means that telling his name is unnecessary or does not matter. pages.uoregon.edu
   • Robert Keith's History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland was first published in 1734. files.royalhistsoc.org
   • The passage reproduced in Keith's history contains the exact quoted wording and uses the personal subject 'I'. en.wiktionary.org