The terms Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Miss are called honorifics or courtesy titles. They are used as formal titles placed before a person's name to show respect or indicate social or marital status.
- Mr. (Mister) is used for men regardless of marital status
- Mrs. (Missus) is traditionally used for married women
- Miss is used for unmarried women or girls, often younger women
- Ms. is a neutral title for women that does not indicate marital status and can be used for any adult woman
These titles originated as abbreviations of older terms such as "Mistress" for Mrs., Miss, and Ms., but now serve as standard forms of respectful address in English
. They are all capitalized when used with names. In summary, these are formal English honorifics or courtesy titles used to address or refer to people respectfully, often indicating gender and sometimes marital status
