Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed) is an English-language honorific used with the last name or full name of a woman, intended as a default form of address for women regardless of marital status. Like Miss and Mrs., the term Ms. has its origins in the female English title once used for all women, Mistress. It originated in the 17th century and was revived into mainstream usage in the 20th century. In the UK, Ireland and the majority of Commonwealth countries, a full stop is usually not used with the title; in Canada and the United States a full stop is usually used (see Abbreviation). Historical development and revival of the term Miss and Mrs., both derived from the then formal Mistress, like Mister did not originally indicate marital status. Ms. was another acceptable abbreviation for Mistress in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. During the 19th century, however, Mrs. and Miss came to be associated almost exclusively with marital status. Ms. was popularized as an alternative in the 20th century. The earliest known proposal for the modern revival of Ms. as a title appeared in The Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts, on November 10, 1901: The term was again suggested as a convenience to writers of business letters by such publications as the Bulletin of the American Business Writing Association (1951) and The Simplified Letter, issued by the National Office Management Association (1952). In 1961, Sheila Michaels attempted to put the term into use when she saw what she thought was a typographical error on the address label of a copy of News & Letters sent to her roommate. Michaels "was looking for a title for a woman who did not 'belong' to a man". She knew the separation of the now common terms Miss and Mrs. had derived from Mistress, but one could not suggest that women use the original title with its now louche connotations. Her efforts to promote use of a new honorific were at first ignored. In 1969, during a lull in an interview with The Feminists group on WBAI-FM radio in New York City, Michaels suggested the use of Ms. A friend of Gloria Steinem heard the interview and suggested it as a title for her new magazine. The magazine Ms. debuted on newsstands in January 1972, and its much-publicized name quickly led to widespread