matron

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English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

matron (plural matrons)

  1. A mature or elderly woman.
    • (Can we date this quote by Thomas Fuller and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      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]:
      In my voluptuousness
      your wives, your daughters, your matrons, and your maids could not fill up
      The cistern of my lust
    • Template:RQ:Chmbrs YngrSt
      “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

Translations

References

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

Anagrams

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