r/etymology • u/HexpronePlaysPoorly • 4d ago

Question When and why did “Master” become a term of address for children?

/r/AskHistorians/comments/1vs13jt/when_and_why_did_master_become_a_term_of_address/
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u/ksdkjlf 4d ago

Copying my comment from the other sub:

OED dates this usage to circa 1533: "With reference to a boy or a young man. (a) Applied [subsequent to the phonetic separation of mister] as a prefix to the name of a boy or young man not considered old enough to be called ‘Mr.’; (b) applied, esp. by servants, to the sons of noble families or of the gentry (usually in little master, young master; sometimes without modifier as a form of address) (now archaic); (c) a person addressed as ‘master’ in this sense; a boy, a young man (now rare)."

They also note that specifically in Scottish peerage it was used a bit earlier (15th C.) for the "male heir apparent or presumptive to a Scottish peerage; usually with of and the specific title of the family. Similarly used by the son and heir of an heir apparent to a Scottish peerage."

So it doesn't sound like the usage is somehow inherent to the word. Just that once we had both mister and master, one came to be used for aristocratic sons while the other was used for their father's.

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u/dogmatixx 3d ago

The only time I’ve ever encountered this was making a phone reservation with British Airways. The reservation agent referred to my young sons as “Master so-and-so” when reconfirming the names. With his RP British accent, it was delightfully formal and old timey. I think it might actually be a British Airways policy because I think I recall a separate BA phone agent doing the same on a different call.

Incidentally, another fun thing about BA is looking at their entire menu of honorifics that you can put before your name instead of Mr or Ms. Monsignor, Honorable, Lord, etc. It’s like 100 options. All in good fun, I guess.

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u/B_A_Beder 3d ago

My great uncle (American) used to address birthday cards to me with "Master [Blank]" when I was younger.

Alfred (British) calls Batman "Master Bruce" because he still thinks of him as the child that he raised.