Ms2
(mɪz)
Also Ms. (with full stop).
[A ‘compromise’ between Mrs. and miss n.2]
A title prefixed to the surname of a woman, regardless of her marital status. Hence as n., a woman so designated. Cf. miz 2.
An increasingly common, but not universally accepted, use.
| 1952 The Simplified Letter (Nat. Office Managem. Assoc., Philadelphia) Jan. 4 Use abbreviation Ms. for all women addressees. This modern style solves an age-old problem. 1952 Ibid. (rev. ed.) June 4 Use abbreviation Ms. if not sure whether to use Mrs. or Miss. 1970 Daily Tel. 28 Aug. 14 The American feminists..object to being addressed as Mrs or Miss but admit that Ms, which the New York Commission on Human Rights has adopted for correspondence, [etc.]. 1970 New Yorker 5 Sept. 27 ‘How come no woman heads a super-agency?’ demanded Ms. Komisar. 1971 Publishers' Weekly 1 Nov. 22 A crowded New York press conference heard this morning that a new magazine, called Ms. (pronounced ‘Miz’), will begin publication in January. 1972 Guardian 29 Mar. 11 Mrs Chisholm (and it is definitely Mrs not Ms). 1973 Lancet 24 Mar. 633/2 We thank Ms Payge Hodapp for technical assistance. 1974 Daily Tel. 21 May 1/6 The Passport Office yesterday conceded the right to women to call themselves Ms (pronounced Miz) on their passports instead of Mrs or Miss. This followed a month's campaign by Women's Lib. 1975 Publishers Weekly 27 Jan. 232/1 Sanditon by Jane Austen and Another Lady..Ms. Austen's seventh and unfinished novel. Ibid. 19 May 170/1 Samantha Lay, a comely Ms. who devises gimmicks like a ‘flying bullpen’. 1975 Times 17 Sept. 16/2 A circular..states grandly: ‘Female staff in this department may..use the Ms title (usually pronounced Miz) as an alternative to the Miss or Mrs.’ Ibid. 16/3 The Civil Service Department..has a fair sprinkling of Mss among its own staff. |