Talk:maistress

Why the rfquote Chaucer has been removed; Why only enm and not en

Context

The Webster 1913 entry for "Maistress" reads

Mais"tress (?), n. Mistress. [Obs.] Chaucer.

The OED entry for mistress, n. and adj. lists maistress as both a 'Middle English' and a 'pre-1700 [Modern English]' form; maistresse as 'Middle English–1600s.' It cites only one usage of 'maistress' from c. 1485. The MED lists the word as maistres(se, with forms maistris(e, maisteres, maistires(se, mastres(s(e, mastras, mastrisse, masteres, mastiresse, mestres(se, and mestris.

Chaucer rfquote

I have been unable to locate a verifiable instance of Chaucer using the maistress variant. For instance, none of the seven volumes of the The Project Gutenberg eBooks of Chaucer’s Works include it, nor does the Hengwrt Chaucer, both of which only use the maistresse variant. The only editor who adopts the maistress spelling is John Urry in his 1721 printing of Chaucer's works, in two lines (394 and 397) in the Squier's Tale. However none of the other printings and manuscripts I have been able to find use this spelling. Therefore I think it is safe to remove the Chaucer rfquote.

As an English word

The only [early] modern uses of the maistress spelling I have been able to locate are:

1. Elijah Fenton's 1717 "A Tale, Devised in the Plesaunt Manere of Gentil Maister Jeoffrey Chaucer." Needless to say, this is a deliberately archaicizing use.
2. The Character of Jocky in Thomas Heywood's King Edward IV part II. This character speaks Scots.
3. In A Letter form my Lord Herries to my Lord Scroop and Sir F. Knollys, Sept 3d, 1568. Again, the writing is tinted with Scots (Lord Herries is a scottish title).

In summary, it seems like this spelling is an obsolete pseudo-archaism from the 18th century. It may be a Scots variant, though the DSL does not list it, nor maistresse. It does not seem likely that it is an english word.