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Miss vs Mister - What's the difference?

miss | mister |

Miss is a coordinate term of mister.


As verbs the difference between miss and mister

is that miss is to fail to hit while mister is to address by the title of "mister" or mister can be (obsolete|impersonal) to be necessary; to matter.

As nouns the difference between miss and mister

is that miss is a failure to hit or miss can be a title of respect for a young woman (usually unmarried) with or without a name used while mister is title conferred on an adult male or mister can be (obsolete) someone's business or function; an occupation, employment, trade or mister can be a device that makes or sprays mist.

miss

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) missen, from (etyl) .

Verb

(es)
  • (ambitransitive) To fail to hit.
  • I missed the target.
    I tried to kick the ball, but missed .
  • * (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss .
  • * (Edmund Waller) (1606-1687)
  • Flying bullets now, / To execute his rage, appear too slow; / They miss , or sweep but common souls away.
  • To fail to achieve or attain.
  • to miss an opportunity
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • When a man misses his great end, happiness, he will acknowledge he judged not right.
  • To feel the absence of someone or something, sometimes with regret.
  • I miss you! Come home soon!
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss .
  • *
  • The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits. He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. Nobody would miss them, he explained.
  • To fail to understand or have a shortcoming of perception.
  • miss the joke
  • To fail to attend.
  • Joe missed the meeting this morning.
  • To be late for something (a means of transportation, a deadline, etc.).
  • I missed the plane!
  • (sports) To fail to score (a goal).
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , passage=Georgia, ranked 16th in the world, dominated the breakdown before half-time and forced England into a host of infringements, but fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili missed three penalties.}}
  • (obsolete) To go wrong; to err.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • Amongst the angels, a whole legion / Of wicked sprites did fall from happy bliss; / What wonder then if one, of women all, did miss ?
  • (obsolete) To be absent, deficient, or wanting.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • What here shall miss , our toil shall strive to mend.
    Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See
    Antonyms
    * (to fail to hit) hit, strike, impinge on, run into, collide with * (to feel the absence of) have, feature
    Derived terms
    * hit-and-miss * miss a trick * miss the mark * miss the point * miss the boat * miss fire, misfire * miss out * near miss

    Noun

    (es)
  • A failure to hit.
  • A failure to obtain or accomplish.
  • An act of avoidance.
  • I think I’ll give the meeting a miss .

    Etymology 2

    From (mistress).

    Noun

    (wikipedia miss)
  • A title of respect for a young woman (usually unmarried) with or without a name used.
  • You may sit here, miss .
    You may sit here, Miss Jones.
  • An unmarried woman; a girl.
  • * Cawthorn
  • Gay vanity, with smiles and kisses, / Was busy 'mongst the maids and misses .
  • A kept woman; a mistress.
  • (Evelyn)
  • (card games) In the game of three-card loo, an extra hand, dealt on the table, which may be substituted for the hand dealt to a player.
  • mister

    English

    Etymology 1

    Unaccented variant of

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Title conferred on an adult male, usually when the name is unknown. Also (often parent to young child) referring to a man whose name is unknown.
  • You may sit here, mister .
    Go and ask that mister if you can get your ball out of his garden.
  • * 1855 , George Musalas Colvocoresses, Four Years in the Government Exploring Expedition , J. M. Fairchild & co., page 358:
  • Fine day to see sights, gentlemen. Well, misters , here's the railing round the ground, and there's the paling round the tomb, eight feet deep, six feet long, and three feet wide.
  • * 1908 , Jack Brand, By Wild Waves Tossed: An Ocean Love Story , The McClure Company, page 90:
  • There's only three misters aboard this ship, or, rather, there's only two.
    Coordinate terms
    * (title of adult male) master, mistress, , Doctor

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To address by the title of "mister".
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) mester, (meister) (et al.), from (etyl) misterium, a medieval conflation of (etyl) .David Wallace, Chaucerian polity: absolutist lineages and associational forms in England and Italy , Stanford University Press, 1997

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) Someone's business or function; an occupation, employment, trade.
  • A kind, type of.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.ix:
  • The Redcrosse knight toward him crossed fast, / To weet, what mister wight was so dismayd.
  • (obsolete) Need (of something).
  • * :
  • And thenne the grene knyghte kneled doune / and dyd hym homage with his swerd / thenne said the damoisel me repenteth grene knyghte of your dommage / and of youre broders dethe the black knyghte / for of your helpe I had grete myster / For I drede me sore to passe this forest / Nay drede you not sayd the grene knyghte / for ye shal lodge with me this nyghte / and to morne I shalle helpe you thorou this forest
  • (obsolete) Necessity; the necessary time.
  • * :
  • It was by Merlyns auyse said the knyghte / As for hym sayd kynge Carados / I wylle encountre with kynge bors / and ye wil rescowe me whan myster is / go on said they al / we wil do all that we may

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete, impersonal) To be necessary; to matter.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.vii:
  • As for my name, it mistreth not to tell; / Call me the Squyre of Dames that me beseemeth well.

    Etymology 3

    .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A device that makes or sprays mist.
  • Odessa D. uses a mister Sunday to fight the 106-degree heat at a NASCAR race in Fontana, California.
    Derived terms
    * demister

    References

    Anagrams

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