Wiktionary

matron

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English matrone, from Old French matrone, from Latin mātrōna (“married woman”), from māter (“mother”). Doublet of matrona.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

matron (plural matrons)

  1. A mature or elderly woman.
    • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC:
      grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she was a mother
  2. A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children.
  3. A woman of staid or motherly manners.
    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 146, column 2:
      But there’s no bottome, none / In my Voluptuouſneſſe : Your Wiues, your Daughters, / Your Matrons, and your Maides, could not fill vp / The Ceſterne of my Luſt, and my Deſire / All continent Impediments would ore-beare / That did oppoſe my will.
    • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, […].
  4. A housekeeper, especially, a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public institution.
  5. A senior female nurse in an establishment, especially a hospital or school.
    the matron of a school or hospital
  6. (US) A female prison officer.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

References edit

“matron”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams edit

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