English honorifics

In the English language, an honorific is a form of address conveying esteem, courtesy or respect. These can be titles prefixing a person's name, e.g.: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Sir, Dame, Dr, Cllr, Lady or Lord, or titles or positions that can appear as a form of address without the person's name, as in Mr President, General, Captain, Father, Doctor or Earl. Many forms of honorifics are for members of the nobility, clergy, military/naval forces, or royalty, mostly in countries that are monarchies. These include "Your Majesty", "Your Royal Highness" or simply "Your Highness", which are used to address certain members of royalty and "My lord/lady" or "Your Lordship/Ladyship" to address a peer other than a Duke, who is referred to as "Your Grace". Master: (ˈmɑːstər) for boys and young men, or as a style for the heir to a Scottish peerage. It may also be used as a professional title, e.g. for the master of a college or the master of a merchant ship. Mr: (ˈmɪstər) for men, regardless of marital status, who do not have another professional or academic title. The variant Mister, with the same pronunciation, is sometimes used to give jocular or offensive emphasis, or to address a man whose name is unknown. "Mr" is used with the name of some offices to address a man who is the office-holder, e.g. "Mr President"; "Mr Speaker", see "Madam" below for the equivalent usage for women. Messrs: Short for the French Messieurs, is a title used to refer to two or more men in a group. Miss: (mɪs) for girls, unmarried women and (in the UK) married women who continue to use their maiden name (although "Ms" is often preferred for the last two). In the UK, it has traditionally been used in schools to address female teachers, regardless of marital status. It is also used, without a name, to address girls or young women and (in the UK) to address female shop assistants and wait staff. Mrs: (ˈmɪsɪz in the UK, ˈmɪsəz or ˈmɪsəs in the US generally, or ˈmɪzəz or ˈmɪzəs in the southern US) for married women who do not have another professional or academic title, an abbreviation of Mistress.