# mistress

Pronunciation: say "MIS-tris" /ˈmɪstɹɪs/

## Noun

1. A woman in a romantic relationship, generally a sexual one, with a man who is married to someone else.
   - Simple: A woman who has a love affair with a man who is married to someone else.
   - _The senator resigned after reporters revealed that he had kept a mistress for years._
   - _Several of the king's mistresses were given titles and estates of their own._
2. A woman who has authority or control over people, animals, or things, especially the female head of a household or the owner of a pet or servants.
   - Simple: A woman who is in charge of a home, people, or animals, or who owns them.
   - _The dog trotted back to its mistress as soon as she whistled._
   - _As mistress of the estate, she managed the farms, the stables, and forty workers._
3. A dominatrix: a woman who takes the dominant, controlling role in BDSM play.
   - Simple: A woman who is the one in control during sexual role-play.
   - _She works as a professional mistress, and her clients book sessions weeks in advance._
   - _Before any BDSM scene begins, the mistress and her partner agree on limits and a safe word._
7. A woman who is highly skilled in something or has complete command of it.
   - Simple: A woman who is very good at something or has full control of it.
   - _The novelist was a mistress of suspense, holding readers until the last page._
   - _Within a year she had made herself mistress of three languages._
10. A woman who is married; someone's wife. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A woman who is married, or a wife.

## Verb

9. To act as a mistress or take on her role, as in running a great house.
   - Simple: To act as a mistress or take on her job, such as running a big house.

## Noun

4. A woman whom someone loves and is devoted to; a sweetheart. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A woman whom someone loves and is devoted to, like a sweetheart.
   - _The young poet filled a notebook with sonnets to his mistress, praising her eyes and her voice._
   - _Before the tournament, each knight asked his mistress for a ribbon to wear on his sleeve._
5. A woman who works as a teacher, often of a particular subject at a school. *(dated, UK)*
   - Simple: A woman who works as a teacher.
   - _The music mistress held choir practice every Thursday after lunch._
   - _At her British boarding school, the games mistress made everyone run in the rain._
6. A respectful way of addressing a woman. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: An old, polite word used when speaking to a woman.
   - _"Will you take a seat by the fire, mistress?" the innkeeper asked._
   - _"Forgive me, mistress, but the coach has already left," said the porter._
11. In the game of bowls, the jack: the small ball that players aim their bowls at. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In the game of bowls, the small ball that players try to roll their balls close to.

## Verb

8. Of a woman, to master something: to learn or develop it to a high degree of skill. *(rare)*
   - Simple: Of a woman, to learn something until she is very good at it.

## Origin

Old French maistresse, the feminine form of maistre ("master") and the source of modern French maîtresse, passed into Middle English as maistresse. Looked at on the surface, it is mister plus -ess.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mistress (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).