A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of
Wingate's Arithmetic.
Addison.
3. A woman regarded with love and devotion; she who has command over
one's heart; a beloved object; a sweetheart. [Poetic] Clarendon.
4. A woman filling the place, but without the rights, of a wife; a
concubine; a loose woman with whom one consorts habitually. Spectator.
5. A title of courtesy formerly prefixed to the name of a woman,
married or unmarried, but now superseded by the contracted forms, Mrs.,
for a married, and Miss, for an unmarried, woman.
Now Mistress Gilpin (careful soul).
Cowper.