Mister, usually written in its contracted form Mr. or Mr,[1] is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office.[1] The title Mr derived from earlier forms of master, as the equivalent female titles Mrs, Miss, and Ms all derived from earlier forms of mistress. Master is sometimes still used as an honorific for boys and young men.
The modern plural form is Misters[citation needed], although its usual formal abbreviation Messrs(.)[note 1] derives from use of the French title messieurs in the 18th century.[2][5] Messieurs is the plural of monsieur (originally mon sieur, "my lord"), formed by declining both of its constituent parts separately.[5]
Historical etiquette
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Historically, mister was applied only to those above one's own status if they had no higher title such as Sir or my lord in the English class system. That understanding is now obsolete, as it was gradually expanded as a mark of respect to those of equal status and then to all men without a higher style.
In the 19th century and earlier in Britain, two gradations of "gentleman" were recognised; the higher was entitled to use "esquire" (usually abbreviated to Esq, which followed the name), and the lower employed "Mr" before the name. Today, on correspondence from Buckingham Palace, a man who is a UK citizen is addressed with post-nominal "Esq", and a man of foreign nationality is addressed with prefix "Mr".
In past centuries, Mr was used with a first name to distinguish among family members who might otherwise be confused in conversation: Mr Doe would be the eldest present; younger brothers or cousins were then referred to as Mr Richard Doe and Mr William Doe and so on. Such usage survived longer in family-owned business or when domestic servants were referring to adult male family members with the same surname: "Mr Robert and Mr Richard will be out this evening, but Mr Edward is dining in." In other circumstances, similar usage to indicate respect combined with familiarity is common in most anglophone cultures, including that of the southern United States.
Professional titles
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Mr is sometimes combined with certain titles (Mr President, Mr Speaker, Mr Justice, Mr Dean). The feminine equivalent is usually Madam although Mrs is also used in some contexts. All of these except Mr Justice are used in direct address and without the name. In certain professional contexts in different regions, Mr has specific meanings; the following are some examples.
Medicine
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In the United Kingdom, Ireland and in some Commonwealth countries (such as South Africa, New Zealand and some states of Australia), many surgeons use the title Mr (or Miss, Ms, Mrs, as appropriate), rather than Dr (Doctor). Until the 19th century, earning a medical degree was not required to become a surgeon. Hence, the modern practice of reverting from Dr to Mr after successfully completing qualifying exams in surgery (e.g., Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons or the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) is a historical reference to the origins of surgery in the United Kingdom as non-medically qualified barber surgeons.[6]
Military usage
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In the United States military, male warrant officers and chief warrant officers are addressed as Mister by senior commissioned officers. In the US Navy and US Coast Guard it is proper to use Mister to refer to commissioned officers below the rank of lieutenant commander, or to subordinate commissioned officers, though the use of Mister implies familiarity compared to the use of rank title for an unknown officer. Female officers below the rank of lieutenant commander may be addressed as Miss, Ms or Mrs, as appropriate.
In the British Armed Forces, a male warrant officer is addressed as Sir by other ranks and non-commissioned officers; commissioned officers, particularly of junior rank, should address a warrant officer using Mister and his surname, although often their rank or appointment is used, for example "Sergeant Major", "Regimental Sergeant Major", or "RSM".
In the British Armed Forces a subaltern is often referred to by his surname and the prefix Mister by both other ranks and more senior commissioned officers, e.g. "Report to Mister Smythe-Jones" rather than "Report to 2nd Lieutenant Smythe-Jones".
Judges
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In the courts of England and Wales, Judges of the High Court are called, for example, Mr Justice Crane unless they are entitled to be addressed as Lord Justice. Where a forename is necessary to avoid ambiguity it is always used, for example Mr Justice Robert Goff to distinguish from a predecessor Mr Justice Goff. The female equivalent is Mrs Justice Hallett, not Madam Justice Hallett. When more than one judge is sitting and there is need to be specific, the form of address is My Lord, Mr Justice Crane. High Court Judges are entitled to be styled with the prefix The Honourable while holding office: e.g., the Honourable Mr Justice Robert Goff. In writing, such as in the law reports, the titles "Mr Justice" or "Mrs Justice" are both abbreviated to a "J" placed after the name. For example, Crane J would be substituted for Mr Justice Crane.[7] Female judges are still properly addressed "My Lord", but "My Lady" is acceptable in modern usage.[citation needed]
The Chief Justice of the United States may be referred to as either "Mr Chief Justice", or "Chief Justice". For example, "Mr Chief Justice Roberts" or "Chief Justice Roberts".
Catholic clerics
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Among Catholic clergy, "Mr" is the correct honorific and form of address for seminarians and other students for the priesthood. It was once the proper title for all secular clergy, including parish priests, the use of the title "Father" being reserved to religious clergy ("regulars")[note 2] only.[8][9] The use of the title "Father" for parish clergy became customary around the 1820s.
A diocesan seminarian is correctly addressed as "Mr", and once ordained a transitional deacon, is addressed in formal correspondence (though rarely in conversation) as the Reverend Mister (or "Rev. Mr"). In clerical religious institutes (those primarily made up of priests), Mr is the title given to scholastics. For instance, in the Jesuits, a man preparing for priesthood who has completed the novitiate but who is not yet ordained is properly, "Mr John Smith, SJ" and is addressed verbally as "Mister Smith"—this is to distinguish him from Jesuit brothers, and priests (although, before the 1820s, many Jesuit priests were also called "Mr"). Orders founded before the 16th century do not, as a rule, follow this practice: a Franciscan or Dominican, for instance, becomes a friar after novitiate and so is properly titled "Brother" or, if a priest, "Father".
Permanent deacons in the United States are styled as "Deacon" or "the Reverend Deacon" followed by their first and last names (e.g. "Deacon John Jones", rather than "the Reverend Mr").[10] It is also customary in some places, especially in the Eastern Catholic Churches, to address deacons while speaking, like presbyters, as "Father" or "Father Deacon".
Other usages
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clarification needed
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Notes
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Pronounced in English,andin French The French, however, do not abbreviateasbut as. In India, one often findsabbreviated asor, especially as a prefix to the name of a firm.
Religious or regular clergy belong to institutes of religion and so follow the rule of the order, and lead a life in community. Secular clergy are ordained, but do not live by a rule or lead a life "in common".
References
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A gender neutral title is a title that does not indicate the gender identity, whatever it may be, of the person being formally addressed. Honorifics are used in situations when it is inappropriate to refer to someone only by their first or last name, such as when addressing a letter, or when introducing the person to others. By comparison, the traditional honorifics of Miss, Mrs, Ms and Mr all indicate the binary gender of the individual.
These titles are used to avoid specifying gender for:
Activists, supporters and groups such as the Trans Educators Network, The Trevor Project, and GLAAD are working toward awareness and acceptance of alternative honorifics, including Mx.[2][3]
Human languages
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Global overview
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Certain whole languages have near complete or vigorous use of gender-neutral titles in their most common forms, which in some languages may be more than one of their forms.[4]
European originated languages
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Frauenknecht et al. at die Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt published a 2021 study in the Journal for EuroLinguistiX which rated 10 current human languages for only 10 job titles regarding "Gender-Inclusive Job Titles", since job titles can in most languages be used directly as titles for individuals or groups using various grammatical methods by language. Compared were Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Slovenian, Italian, Spanish, UK English, French, German and Hungarian in order of tabling. This team found using several rank analysis systems that the trio of Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian had gender-neutral titles for all 10 jobs, UK English was close, then Russian. None of this sample of European languages fell in middle ratings. German, Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French) and as well as Slovenian scored very low.[5]
English language
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History
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Origins
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"Mx" was first used in print in 1977, and it is unknown whether there was spoken usage before that.[1] There is some confusion surrounding when Mx became a common way for persons to prefer to be addressed, however, there have been numerous cases of Mx in print from 1977 up until the early 2000s, when usage became more popular.[6] The Oxford and Merriam-Webster English dictionaries added Mx in 2015 and 2016, respectively.[1][7]
United Nations 2020 lexicon
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On May 18, 2020, the United Nations' UN Women organization, itself a gender-named and gender-concerned caucus, published a lexicon of recommended English language gender-neutral titles and group category names. Most of the merely 12 items are in enough current usage in English to be familiar. However, there was swift negative feedback on a few terms which, while ungendered, posed other social problems and were not substitutes for the words they sought to replace in all cases of usage. Especially replacing 'landlord' with 'owner', which might satisfy some usages regarding real estate ownership, but is not well used when relationship with renters or others is what is sought in conveyance, as opting instead of 'Hi, this is Mary, my landlord' to say "Hi, this is Mary, my owner" implies that "owner" might be a relationship between the real estate owner and in this case, yourself, which implies 'slavery' or 'human trafficking'.[8]
Titles in use or proposed for common use (alphabetical order)
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Ind stands for individual.[9]
M is the first letter of most gendered titles, both masculine and feminine. The title "M" simply removes the following letters that would designate gender.[9]
Misc stands for miscellaneous.[10]
Mre, is short for the word "mystery".[9]
Msr is a combination of "Miss", a feminine title, and "Sir", which is typically masculine.[9]
Mx is a title commonly used by non-binary people as well as those who do not identify with the gender binary, and first appeared in print in the 1970s.[11][12] The "x" is intended to stand as a wildcard character, and does not imply a "mixed" gender. Pronunciation of "Mx" is not yet standardized; it is frequently pronounced "mix" but sometimes with a schwa as "məx", or even as "em-ex".
Pr is short for the word "person", pronounced "per".[9]
Professional and military titles
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In many cases, gender-non-conforming individuals have used professional titles such as Captain, Doctor, or Coach to avoid gendered titles.[13] This practice is seen in the media, frequently in the case of women attempting to avoid the discrimination associated with femininity in professional settings.[14]
Dr, referring to one who has obtained a PhD, MD, or other doctorate-level degree. While not available for all, many non-binary people who have achieved such schooling prefer to use this title as it does not inherently indicate any one gender.[13]
See also
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References
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