1. matron(n = noun.person) - a married woman (usually middle-aged with children) who is staid and dignified;
is a kind of married woman, wife
Derived form adjective matronly1
2. matron(n = noun.person) - a wardress in a prison;
is a kind of wardress
3. matron(n = noun.person) - a woman in charge of nursing in a medical institution;
is a kind of nurse, adult female, woman
1. A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children; a woman of staid or motherly manners. [1913 Webster]
"Your wives, your daughters,
Your matrons, and your maids." [1913 Webster]
"Grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she was a mother." [1913 Webster]
2. A housekeeper; esp., a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public instution; a head nurse in a hospital; as, the matron of a school or hospital. [1913 Webster]
matron, n.
1 a married woman, esp. a dignified and sober one.
2 a woman managing the domestic arrangements of a school etc.
3 Brit. a woman in charge of the nursing in a hospital.
Idiom:
matron of honour a married woman attending the bride at a wedding.
Usage:
Now usu. called senior nursing officer.
Derivative:
matronhood n.
Etymology:
ME f. OF matrone f. L matrona f. mater matris mother
N marriage, matrimony, wedlock, union, intermarriage, miscegenation, the bonds of marriage, vinculum matrimonii, nuptial tie, married state, coverture, bed, cohabitation, match, betrothment, wedding, nuptials, Hymen, bridal, espousals, spousals, leading to the altar, nuptial benediction, epithalamium, sealing, torch of Hymen, temple of Hymen, hymeneal altar, honeymoon, bridesmaid, bridesman, best man, bride, bridegroom, married man, married woman, married couple, neogamist, Benedict, partner, spouse, mate, yokemate, husband, man, consort, baron, old man, good man, wife of one's bosom, helpmate, rib, better half, gray mare, old woman, old lady, good wife, goodwife, feme, feme coverte, squaw, lady, matron, matronage, matronhood, man and wife, wedded pair, Darby and Joan, spiritual wife, monogamy, bigamy, digamy, deuterogamy, trigamy, polygamy, mormonism, levirate, spiritual wifery, spiritual wifeism, polyandrism, Turk, bluebeard, unlawful marriage, left-handed marriage, morganatic marriage, ill- assorted marriage, mesalliance, mariage de convenance, marriage broker, matrimonial agency, matrimonial agent, matrimonial bureau, matchmaker, schatchen, married, one, one bone and one flesh, marriageable, nubile, engaged, betrothed, affianced, matrimonial, marital, conjugal, connubial, wedded, nuptial, hymeneal, spousal, bridal, the gray mare the better horse, a world-without-end bargain, marriages are made in Heaven, render me worthy of this noble wife, si qua voles apte nubere nube pari.
N woman, she, her, female, petticoat, feminality, muliebrity, womanhood, womankind, the sex, the fair, fair sex, softer sex, weaker vessel, dame, madam, madame, mistress, Mrs, lady, donna belle, matron, dowager, goody, gammer, Frau, frow, Vrouw, rani, good woman, good wife, squaw, wife, matronage, matronhood, bachelor girl, new woman, feminist, suffragette, suffragist, nymph, wench, grisette, girl, sissy, betty, cot betty, cotquean, henhussy, mollycoddle, muff, old woman, hen, bitch, sow, doe, roe, mare, she goat, Nanny goat, tabita, ewe, cow, lioness, tigress, vixen, gynecaeum, estrogen, oestrogen, consanguinity &c, paternity, lesbian, dyke, female, she-, feminine, womanly, ladylike, matronly, maidenly, wifely, womanish, effeminate, unmanly, gynecic, gynaecic, Pron, she, her, hers, ', a perfect woman nobly planned, a lovely lady garmented in white, das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan, earth's noblest thing, a woman perfected, es de vidrio la mujer, she moves a goddess and she looks a queen, the beauty of a lovely woman is like music, varium et mutabile semper femina, woman is the lesser man.