Miss, Ms. and Mrs.

Im going to disagree with Tony (in part) and Rahul (in another).

Ms. is not reserved for after divorce, but is used when someone's maritial status is unknown, is not pertinent, or when the recipient prefers the usage.

Contrary to Rahul, Ms. is the prefered usage in American business communications. I have written many business letters to women whom I don't yet know well (and thus their first name alone is overly familiar) . I also do not know whether they are married. Because Ms. is neutral, it is preferred.

At least one-third of my professional coworkers continue to use their maiden name, at least at work. While they be Mrs. Married Name to their children's friends, they are Ms. Maiden Name professionally.

Thanks, Viveth!  We haven't really answered your question.

Mr. is an abbreviation for Mister, an honorific title given to adults males in the past and all males today. The honorific Master was once given to younger males, but today has fallen out of use except in the most conservatively formal situations. Master is abbreviated Mstr. or sometimes as Mr. The honorific is used before a person's proper name --> Mr. Pribyl.

Mrs. is an abbreviation of Missus, but Missus is almost never seen in writing. The term began as a contraction of the honorific Mistress, the feminine of Mister, or Master, which was originally applied to both married and unmarried women.  Today, Mrs. applies only to married women. The split into Mrs. and Miss began during the 17th century. Like Mr., the honorific Mrs. is used before a person's name.

Miss is the female equivalent of Master and is the honorific used for young or unmarried women. It also began as a contraction of the honorific Mistress but is now a word in its own right and is never abbreviated.

Ms. was originally the abbreviation of Mistress and was often used during the 17th century. As Mrs. and Miss began to split into their present usages, Ms. fell into disuse.

During the 1960s, women began to complain that while the male honorific Mr. did not communicate age or maritial status, the female honorifics did.  Further, as a matter of etiquette (but not grammar), the honorific Mrs. was used only before the husband's name. So Janet Jones was either Miss Janet Jones (if unmarried) or Mrs. Robert Jones (if married). Mrs. Janet Jones was not considered a proper title.  This implied that the man owned the woman.

So Ms. (pronounced Miz) was resurrected to be the female equivalent of Mr.  Although Ms. is treated as an abbreviation, there is no female equivalent to the full word "Mister".

As the other posts in ths thread discuss, the use of these honorifics is disappearing in America, except in very formal situations.  Several major newspapers, namely the Wall Street Journal, continue to use these titles (and defend their use). Still, I feel that within 50 years each of these honorifics will be considered archaic.

In the United States and Canada, Mr. Mrs. and Ms. receive periods. In Britain, they do not.  Beause their use does not divide along American English and British English lines I can't speak to whether periods are used in other English-speaking countries.

Mrs. is used before the name of a married woman while Miss is used when she is unmarried.

Ms. is used when you are not sure about the marital status or you don't want to mention it.

Some people address 'Ms.' to be a neutral title which is regarded to be same in usage to the male 'Mr.'

It is suggested to avoid the use of Ms. but to use Mr. Miss or Mrs.

I always thought it was Miss before marriage, Mrs. during marriage, and Ms. after divorce... but I have been wrong before.

Oh, and no period after Miss (but yes after the others).

Jeff's answer is right on. Ms. has become the preferred title in the US.  Even young women who have never been married more often use Ms. 

In answer to Tony's additional question about Mz. or Mizz - no such a animal.  It is pronounced that way, but pronunciation and spelling don't always match up.  I would file that under "people who want to spell phonetically." 

I have also found that the UK does not use the period.

Hi Jeff,
i completely agree with your answer. however he ask what was the meaning of Ms Miss Mr Mrs and if they need a period after.

Ms 80% used to address a female because if they are not personnal knowing to be married then it would be an offerce to address them has Mrs.

Mrs. is used to address a female gender when they're certified married people.

Miss in my opion is use like when you you say a "Miss America" mostly a title i am not really 100% per cent sure but,it's just my opionon correct me if i am wrong.

Mr. is used to address a male (man) gender in a correct and respectfully manner

peace out!

Oh on yes i would diffently use a period after all of them. However, you may correct me if i am wrong because i am good at english myself.

Cheers!

Ms. had nothing to do with divorce, and when "resurricted" in the 60's as an alturnative to using Mrs. (which implied you were subornate to your husband) or Miss (which inplied you were still subordnate to your Father) some folks promoting the use of the term claimed it was gender nutral and could be used for both men and women, the M standing for My and the s standing for self.  That never caught on and it became an alturnatinve to Mr. for women to be placed on an equal footing with men.  I was taught, back in those days, that Ms did not get a period as it was an acronym and not an abbriviation.  It seems now that it is given the period as Mr. and Mrs. are.  It does (and I'm glad of it) seem to have replaced Miss in all the usage I commonly see and ot be replaceing Mrs. in most usage (the exception being a few older women I know insisting on the old form of being addressed by their married name with the Mrs.).  Funny how language changes.

I was taught (back in the 1960’s) that since Ms is not an abbreviation, it should not have a period. However, most of the time people include the period. Mr. and Mrs. should, of course, have the period.