Missy
nounAn informal, often mildly reproachful, term of address for a young woman or girl.
How to spell missy
5 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce missy
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does missy mean?
- nounAn informal, often mildly reproachful, term of address for a young woman or girl.
Missy in a sentence
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That is quite enough cheek from you, missy.
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The shopkeeper called the little girl missy as she counted out her coins.
Where does missy come from?
Language of origin: French
The word grew out of 'miss', which itself was a shortening of 'mistress', a title for a woman that came into English through Old French 'maistresse' and ultimately from the Latin 'magister', meaning 'master' or 'chief'. By the 1600s 'miss' had narrowed to mean a young unmarried woman or girl, and writers soon added the familiar diminutive ending '-y', the same affectionate suffix found in 'daddy' and 'doggy', to form 'missy'. From the late 1700s 'missy' was used as a fond or playful name for a small girl, but over time it also picked up a sharper edge, becoming a slightly scolding way to address a young female who is being cheeky or presumptuous. The spelling trap is the doubled 's' carried straight over from 'miss', followed by the single '-y'.
How the word is built
- miss (young unmarried woman, shortened from mistress)
- -y (diminutive/familiar suffix)
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