forms of address

Noun

address (plural addresses)

1. (obsolete) Guidance; help.
2. (archaic, in plural) A polite approach made to another person, especially of a romantic nature; an amorous advance.
   • [H]e was thus agreeable, and I neither insensible of his Perfections, nor displeased at his Addresses to me […].1723, Richard Steele, The Lover and Reader, page 115
3. A manner of speaking or writing to another; language, style.
   • a man of pleasing or insinuating address
4. A formal approach to a sovereign or head of state, especially an official appeal or petition.
5. (Commonwealth) A response given by each of the Houses of Parliament to the sovereign's speech at the opening of Parliament.
6. An act of addressing oneself to a person or group; a discourse or speech, or a record of this.
   • Mr. Gregson, who had listened to this address with considerable impatience, could contain himself no longer.1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, section VII

See all 29 meanings of address