different between frau vs mistress

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Frau. Doublet of frow and vrouw.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?a?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Noun

frau (plural fraus)

1. A woman, especially a German woman.

Anagrams

• Rauf, Urfa, fuar

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin fraus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?f?aw/
• Rhymes: -aw

Noun

frau m (plural fraus)

1. fraud

Further reading

• “frau” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “frau” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “frau” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “frau” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

German

Etymology

From Frau by making the first letter lower-case. Coined as an alternative to the male-sounding word man (“one”), which is cognate and homophonous with Mann (“adult male”). First used by feminists when writing about women, then occasionally used in general contexts. Compare the pronoun mensch. Compare also the use of she vs he in English to refer to someone whose gender is unknown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fra??/
• Homophone: Frau
• Rhymes: -a??

Pronoun

frau

1. (indefinite, informal, slang, rare) one, they (indefinite third-person singular pronoun)
   • 1998, Matthias Matussek, Die vaterlose Gesellschaft: überfällige Anmerkungen zum Geschlechterkampf, page 47:

     Sie ist selbst dann noch beschissen, wenn frau sie beendet hat.

   • 2003, Ulrike Schlicht, Selbsterweiterungsprozesse alleinlebender Frauen, ?ISBN, page 218:

     Wenn frau sich kennt, braucht sie nicht vor sich wegzulaufen.

   • 2008, Gaye Suse Kromer, Obszöne Lust oder etablierte Unterhaltung?, page 163:

     Erst mal sechs Jahre alleine und frau muss auch zusehen, dass sie sich gerne hat. Das liebe ich, mit mir selbst zu sein und mich zu mögen und mich zu streicheln.

Usage notes

• The word is more frequently used by left-wing and/or feminist writers and speakers, which may use this word in a serious formal context, where this word is not usually acceptable, in order to express their political views. In informal context, such as magazine articles, frau is usually used just once in a text as a stylistic flourish to underline that a women-specific topic is discussed.

References

Further reading

• “frau” in Duden online

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• fraud

Etymology

From Old Norse frauð.

Noun

frau f or m (definite singular frauen or fraua, indefinite plural frauer or frauar, definite plural frauene or frauane)

1. (chiefly uncountable) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Inflection

Related terms

• frode

References

• “frau” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• frua, fura

English

Etymology

From Middle English maistresse and Old French maistresse (French maîtresse), feminine of maistre (“master”). This may be broken down as mister +? -ess.

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?s?tr?s, IPA^(key): /?m?st??s/

Noun

mistress (plural mistresses)

1. A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership

   Synonyms: (applicable to either sex) boss, (applicable to either sex) head, (applicable to either sex) leader

   male equivalent: master

2. A female teacher

   Synonym: schoolmarm

   male equivalent: master

3. The other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations

   Synonyms: (applicable to either sex) bit on the side, fancy woman, comaré, goomah; see also Thesaurus:mistress

   Antonyms: cicisbeo, fancy man

4. A dominatrix

   male equivalent: master

   • 2006, Amelia May Kingston, The Triumph of Hope (page 376)

     As part of BDSM play they can enhance the domineering tread of a mistress or hobble the steps of a slave.

5. A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it

   • A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic.

6. a woman regarded with love and devotion; a sweetheart
7. (Scotland) A married woman; a wife
8. (obsolete) The jack in the game of bowls
9. A female companion to a master (a man with control, authority or ownership)
10. female equivalent of master
11. female equivalent of mister

Usage notes

In the extramarital sense, mistress is often narrowly taken to mean a woman involved in a committed extramarital relationship (an affair), often supported financially (a kept woman). It can also be broadly taken to mean a woman involved in an extramarital relationship regardless of the level of commitment, but requires more than a single act of adultery.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

mistress (third-person singular simple present mistresses, present participle mistressing, simple past and past participle mistressed)

1. (transitive, rare) Of a woman: to master; to learn or develop to a high degree of proficiency.
2. (intransitive) To act or take the role of a mistress.

See also

• (titles) (of a man): Mr (Mister, mister), Sir (sir); (of a woman): Ms (Miz, mizz), Mrs (Mistress, mistress), Miss (miss), Dame (dame), (of a non-binary person): Mx (Mixter); (see also): Dr (Doctor, doctor), Madam (madam, ma'am) ^{(Category: en:Titles)}

References