matron
Americannoun
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a married woman, especially one who is mature and staid or dignified and has an established social position.
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a woman who has charge of the domestic affairs of a hospital, prison, or other institution.
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a woman serving as a guard, warden, or attendant for women or girls, as in a prison.
noun
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a married woman regarded as staid or dignified, esp a middle-aged woman with children
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a woman in charge of the domestic or medical arrangements in an institution, such as a boarding school
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a wardress in a prison
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Official name: nursing officer. the former name for the administrative head of the nursing staff in a hospital
Other Word Forms
- matron-like adjective
- matronal adjective
- matronhood noun
- matronship noun
Etymology
Origin of matron
1350–1400; Middle English matrone < Latin mātrōna a married woman, wife, derivative of māter mother
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Seema cosplaying a garden society matron certainly isn’t the worst vision this show has served.
From Salon • Jun. 7, 2025
She arrived for breakfast looking elegant in a black-and-white caftan, the picture of an Upper West Side matron, a matron without a sizable body count.
From New York Times • Nov. 29, 2024
He was given a letter by matron Lynda McHale, written by her granddaughter, that wished Catherine and the King well in their respective cancer recoveries.
From BBC • May 10, 2024
She has been called the “godmother of stuntwomen” and “the grand matron of Hollywood stuntwomen,” working well past retirement age.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2024
Unlike the former head matron, who shrieked and scolded endlessly in her rusted-hinge voice, this woman worked in a terrifying silence.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
