MIS'TRESS, noun [Latin magistra.] 1. A woman who governs; correlative to servant, slave, or subject. My mistress here lies murdered in her bed. 2. The female head of a family. 3. That which governs; a sovereign. Rome was mistress of the world. 4. One that commands, or has possession and sovereignty. The queen is mistress of the Indies. 5. A female who is well skilled in any thing; as, she is mistress of arithmetic. 6. A woman teacher; an instructress of a school. 7. A woman beloved and courted. 8. A woman in keeping for lewd purposes. 9. A term of contemptuous address. MIS'TRESS, verb transitive To wait upon a mistress; to be courting.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI