Mistress

Mistress, depending on context, may mean any of several things:

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• the feminine form of the word master. In particular:
• a woman who owns a slave.
• an old-fashioned term for the lady of the house, especially one who is head of the household.
• A schoolmistress) also a female school teacher. The term is now generally obsolete (even in British public schools). The term 'Headmistress' also survives in some American and Commonwealth private schools. See schoolmaster.
• an old form of address for a woman, for example Mistress Quickly in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. The title Mistress did not distinguish between married and unmarried women. The title Mrs. is an abbreviation of Mistress, and the titles Miss and Ms. are also derived from it.
• In BDSM, it is a term for a dominatrix.
• A female lover, especially if one is married or in an otherwise committed relationship with another. In some systems of nobility (especially in the case of royalty), mistresses had official titles and positions at court. See intimate relationship.