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There are different theories, one said it came from 太皇太后 (A queen who became the Emperor's grandmother), but I seriously doubt it to be the case. From a nickname/ honorific for the Emperor's grandmother to an honorific for someone's wife is a big stretch.
The following is more believable to me.
According to this article 为何人们把已婚的女性称为“太太”？原来有“太太”这么好的寓意
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“太太”, used as a honorific term for wife, was medntioned in “甲乙剩言”, and was quoted in “全閩詩話” volume 8:
https://archive.org/details/06069323.cn/page/n101/mode/2up
有一邊道轉御史中丞作除夕詩云
幸喜荆妻稱太太・且斟柏酒樂陶陶
葢部民呼有司眷屬・惟中丞以上得呼太太耳・故幸而見之歌詠
only wife of higher ranking officials (中丞以上) could be called “太太”; afterwards, this term was “deflated”, that it’s used as a term for ...
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