<P> Ms or Ms. (normally / ˈmɪz /, but also / məz /, or / məs / when unstressed) is an English honorific used with the last name or full name of a woman, intended as a default form of address for women regardless of their marital status . Like Miss and Mrs., the term Ms. has its origins in the female English title once used for all women, Mistress . It has its origin in the 17th century and was revived into mainstream usage in the 20th century . In the UK and the majority of Commonwealth countries, a full stop (period) is usually not used with the title; in the United States and Canada a period is usually used (see Abbreviation). </P> <P> Ms. began to be used as early as the 17th century, along with Miss and Mrs., as a title derived from the then formal Mistress, which, like Mister, did not originally indicate marital status . Ms., however, fell into disuse in favor of the other two titles and was not revived until the 20th century . </P> <P> The earliest known proposal for the modern revival of Ms. as a title appeared in The Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts, on November 10, 1901: </P>

When did the term ms come into use