What does “Ms.” stand for?

Ms. is a title used before a woman’s name, much like “Miss” and “Mrs.” Unlike those terms, it doesn’t specify whether the woman is married or unmarried. It’s used as an equivalent to the masculine “Mr.” to refer to a woman without defining her by her marital status (e.g. “Ms. Gadd”).

It’s written like an abbreviation, but it doesn’t stand for any longer word; it’s just designed to look like other titles used before names. It does not stand for “Miss.” When said aloud, it’s pronounced [miz], but it should not be written that way.