Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun metrology Symbol for the megasecond, an SI unit of time equal to 106 seconds.
  • noun A title used before an adult female's name or surname instead of Miss or Mrs.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Pre-19th century contraction of "Mistress" (http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/columns/missmanners/index.html); widely adopted by feminists from the 1970s onwards as a non-sexist title that does not reveal or assume the marital status of the woman to which it is applied, by analogy with Mr, which functions in this way.

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Examples

  • The day after the veto, Mr. Romney wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed piece that his convictions on the issue had "evolved," and declared "I am prolife"—embracing a label Ms. Roos says he had avoided as a candidate in 2002.

    For Romney, 2005 Was Key Year of Policy Shifts Jonathan Weisman 2011

  • But even the term Ms is highly offensive to many women.

    The Guardian World News Kim Willsher 2011

  • In 1979, the label Ms. Robinson and her husband had founded, All Platinum, was awash in lawsuits and losing money.

    NYT > Home Page By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR. 2011

  • But even the term Ms is highly offensive to many women.

    The Guardian World News Kim Willsher 2011

  • But all I can think is that she hates the title Ms. She said it was “asinine,” another of her cherished words.

    Vivian Rising Daniella Brodsky 2010

  • Yes, Eclipse is the name Ms. Dugard innocently chose.

    NYT > Global Home By JANET MASLIN 2011

  • Yes, Eclipse is the name Ms. Dugard innocently chose.

    NYT > Home Page By JANET MASLIN 2011

  • Her version of "On Broadway" focused on the ambition of the song's narrator, a young guitarist who arrives in New York off a Greyhound bus with no money, determined to be a "star," a word Ms. Tierney reiterated with a piercing cry.

    NYT > Home Page By STEPHEN HOLDEN 2012

  • Her version of "On Broadway" focused on the ambition of the song's narrator, a young guitarist who arrives in New York off a Greyhound bus with no money, determined to be a "star," a word Ms. Tierney reiterated with a piercing cry.

    NYT > Home Page By STEPHEN HOLDEN 2012

  • Russell, who goes by the moniker "Ms. B, the Doodle Queen."

    NYDN Rss Tanyanika Samuels 2012

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