Etymology Explorer › Old French

Where does “maistresse” come from?

maistresse (Old French) comes from Old French maistre, from Latin magister, from Proto-Italic magisteros, from Proto-Indo-European méǵh₂isteros, from Proto-Indo-European méǵh₂s — big, great.

Ancestry of “maistresse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmaistremaster; Master; magister
2Latinmagisterteacher; master; a title of the Middle Ages,...
3Proto-Italicmagisteros—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanméǵh₂isteros—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanméǵh₂sbig, great

Words derived from “maistresse”

  • Miss
  • Mrs
  • mistress
  • Ms
  • missus
  • schoolmistress
  • headmistress
  • Mx
  • postmistress
  • taskmistress
  • housemistress
  • toastmistress
  • webmistress
  • choirmistress
  • schoolmistressy
  • mistressship
  • mistressless
  • whoremistress
  • ringmistress
  • paymistress
  • subpostmistress
  • stationmistress
  • schoolmistressly
  • grandmistress
Every word from Proto-Indo-European méǵh₂s →