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(), n.[OE. maistress, OF. maistresse, F. matresse, LL. magistrissa, for L. magistra, fem. of magister. See Master, Mister, and cf. Miss a young woman.] 1. A woman having power, authority, or ownership; a woman who exercises authority, is chief, etc.; the female head of a family, a school, etc. The late queen's gentlewoman! a knight's daughter! To be her mistress' mistress! Shak. 2. A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it. A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic. Addison. 3. A woman regarded with love and devotion; she who has command over one's heart; a beloved object; a sweetheart. [Poetic] Clarendon. 4. A woman filling the place, but without the rights, of a wife; a concubine; a loose woman with whom one consorts habitually. Spectator. 5. A title of courtesy formerly prefixed to the name of a woman, married or unmarried, but now superseded by the contracted forms, Mrs., for a married, and Miss, for Mis"tress v. i.To wait upon a mistress; to be courting. [Obs.] Donne. スポンサード リンク
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