In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
MISTRESS
mistress
(noun) a woman master who directs the work of others
mistress, kept woman, fancy woman
(noun) an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man
schoolmarm, schoolma'am, schoolmistress, mistress
(noun) a woman schoolteacher (especially one regarded as strict)
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
mistress (plural mistresses)
A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership
Synonyms: boss (applicable to either sex), head (applicable to either sex), leader (applicable to either sex)
A female teacher
Synonym: schoolmarm
The other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations
Synonyms: bit on the side (applicable to either sex), fancy woman, comaré, goomah, Thesaurus:mistress
Antonyms: cicisbeo, fancy man
A dominatrix
A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it
a woman regarded with love and devotion; a sweetheart
(Scotland) A married woman; a wife
(obsolete) The jack in the game of bowls
A female companion to a master (a man with control, authority or ownership)
female equivalent of master
female equivalent of mister
Usage notes
In the extramarital sense, mistress is often narrowly taken to mean a woman involved in a committed extramarital relationship (an affair), often supported financially (a kept woman). It can also be broadly taken to mean a woman involved in an extramarital relationship regardless of the level of commitment, but requires more than a single act of adultery.
Verb
mistress (third-person singular simple present mistresses, present participle mistressing, simple past and past participle mistressed)
(transitive, rare) Of a woman: to master; to learn or develop to a high degree of proficiency.
(intransitive) To act or take the role of a mistress.
Noun
Mistress (plural Mistresses)
(archaic) Used as the title of a married woman before her name. Now used only in the abbreviated form Mrs.
Source: Wiktionary
Mis"tress, n. Etym: [OE. maistress, OF. maistresse, F. maîtresse, 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 an unmarried, woman. Now Mistress Gilpin (careful soul). Cowper.
6. A married woman; a wife. [Scot.] Several of the neighboring mistresses had assembled to witness the event of this memorable evening. Sir W. Scott.
7. The old name of the jack at bowls. Beau. & Fl. To be one's own mistress, to be exempt from control by another person.
Mis"tress, v. i.
Definition: To wait upon a mistress; to be courting. [Obs.] Donne.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
22 April 2025
BRIGHT
(adjective) made smooth and bright by or as if by rubbing; reflecting a sheen or glow; “bright silver candlesticks”; “a burnished brass knocker”; “she brushed her hair until it fell in lustrous auburn waves”; “rows of shining glasses”; “shiny black patents”
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