小姐

小姐

1. Miss (a term of address for a young or unmarried woman)

   王小姐來了。／王小姐来了。  ―  Wáng xiǎojiě lái le.  ―  Miss Wang is here. / Miss Wang is coming.

   帳務由心細的李小姐經手，絕對不會出錯。 [MSC, trad.]
   帐务由心细的李小姐经手，绝对不会出错。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhàngwù yóu xīnxì de Lǐ xiǎojiě jīngshǒu, juéduì bùhuì chūcuò. [Pinyin]

   The accounting is carefully handled by Miss Li; absolutely no mistakes are made.

2. young lady
3. young lady of gentry family

   大小姐  ―  dà xiǎojiě  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   小姐的身子丫鬟的命 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   xiǎojiě de shēnzi yāhuan de mìng [Pinyin]

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

4. (dated or Mainland China slang) prostitute

Mainland usage issue

• In mainland China, 小姐 is less used to mean “young lady” / “Miss” because the meaning “prostitute” took over the original meaning.
• For addressing a young lady or using a title for one, one can use 女士 (nǚshì) instead. To call a waitress, the word 服務員／服务员 (fúwùyuán) is available.
• The usage of 小姐 still survives...
  • as titles in beauty contests (e.g. 世界小姐).
  • in fictions.
  • in some compound words such as 大小姐 (dàxiǎojiě).

• 女士 (nǚshì, “lady; miss”)
• (young lady): (Hokkien, dated) 娘仔

• 太太 (tàitai, “madame, wife”)
• 夫人 (fūrén, “madame”)
• 先生 (xiānshēng, “mister”)

• “小姐”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.