Dictionary

matron en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmeɪtɹən/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. A mature or elderly woman, especially one of a higher social rank.
   • grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she was a mother 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
2. A mature or elderly woman, especially one of a higher social rank. ▸ A woman with the character of a mother or matriarch.
   • “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,[…]. 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
   • 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. 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:
3. A mature or elderly woman, especially one of a higher social rank. ▸ A woman in charge of the domestic arrangements of an establishment or institution, especially, the nursing officer or chief nurse of a hospital.
   • the matron of a school or hospital
4. A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children.
   • Roman matrons, sexually exhausted, were fond of trout caught in a little stream in the Vosges Mountains. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 237:
5. A housekeeper, especially, a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public institution.
6. (US) A female prison officer.

Forms

Deriveds

matronal · matronly · matronize · matron of honour · matronship · matronage · bridesmatron · matronlike · matronliness · matron of honor · ooh, matron · jury of matrons · matronhood · matronism · undermatron

Relateds

matrona · matroneum · matrix

Translations (29)

cs dozorkyně (female prison officer) · pl matrona (mature or elderly woman) · bg старша сестра (senior female nurse) · cs matrona (woman of staid or motherly manners) · ru эконо́мка (housekeeper) · nl matrone (mature or elderly woman) · nl hoofdverpleegster (housekeeper) · fr matrone (mature or elderly woman) · cs matrona (mature or elderly woman) · fi emäntä (housekeeper) · fi eukko (mature or elderly woman) · fi ylihoitaja (senior female nurse) · eo intendantino (housekeeper) · fi emäntä (mature or elderly woman) · fi matroona (woman of staid or motherly manners) · bg матрона (mature or elderly woman) · es matrona (mature or elderly woman) · fi taloudenhoitajatar (housekeeper) · cs hlavní sestra (senior female nurse) · cs matrona (wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children) · fi emäntä (wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children) · ro matroană (mature or elderly woman) · gd brèideach (mature or elderly woman) · nrf matronne (mature or elderly woman) · fi taloudenhoitaja (housekeeper) · nl directrice (housekeeper) · bg надзирателка (female prison officer) · la matrōna (mature or elderly woman) · ru матро́на (mature or elderly woman)