different between playfellow vs mistress

English

Etymology

play +? fellow

Noun

playfellow (plural playfellows)

1. (dated) playmate; companion for someone (especially children) to play with.
   • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

     "I’ve brought you a new playfellow," the Fairy said. "You must be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in Rabbitland, for he is going to live with you for ever and ever!"

   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5

     Now she was within ten feet of the two unsuspecting little playfellows--carefully she drew her hind feet well up beneath her body, the great muscles rolling under the beautiful skin.

   • 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, chapter XIX:

     "Linton is just six months younger than I am, {...} How delightful it will be to have him for a playfellow!"

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