Etymology

mistress

M3I1S1T1R1E1S1S1

Today it means: A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership. Full definition →

Middle English maistresse ← Old French maistresse ← Latin magister, magistrum
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*meǵh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meh₂-
  3. Proto-Italic*magisteros
  4. Latinmagister, magistrum
  5. Old Frenchmaistre
  6. Old Frenchmaistresse
  7. Middle Englishmaistresse
  8. English todaymistress

From Middle English maistresse, from Old French maistresse (whence French maîtresse), feminine of maistre (“master”). By surface analysis, mist(e)r + -ess.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.