matron

American  

[mey-truhn] / ˈmeɪ trən /

noun

• matrons
  plural

1. a married woman, especially one who is mature and staid or dignified and has an established social position.

2. a woman who has charge of the domestic affairs of a hospital, prison, or other institution.

3. a woman serving as a guard, warden, or attendant for women or girls, as in a prison.

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matron British  

/ ˈmeɪtrən /

noun

1. a married woman regarded as staid or dignified, esp a middle-aged woman with children

2. a woman in charge of the domestic or medical arrangements in an institution, such as a boarding school

3. a wardress in a prison

4. Official name: nursing officer.  the former name for the administrative head of the nursing staff in a hospital

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• matronhood
  noun
• matronship
  noun
• matron-like
  adjective
• matronal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• matrons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of matron

1350–1400; Middle English matrone < Latin mātrōna a married woman, wife, derivative of māter mother

Explanation

A matron is a dignified, serious-minded married woman. The warden in a women's prison is also called a matron, which may lead you to conclude that the term is often not a glowing compliment. In a wedding, you can have a maid of honor (the bride’s unmarried attendant) or a matron of honor (one who’s married). Matron includes the Latin root mater, "mother" — as in “maternal,” “maternity,” and “matrimony.” You may imagine matrons as gray-haired and stern, like Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and to avoid negative stereotypes, the title matron, for the woman who runs a nursing home or boarding school, is often replaced with the gender-neutral “director.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

matron matrons

Lambert believes matron Stannard was also incompetent and that in part explains why the numbers of baby deaths were so high.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

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

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

The matron was carrying a small stool that she leapt to set down for the officer.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Behind her back, the other matrons make snarky remarks about her while sipping her tea; we learn all this because we share Millie’s point of view and the moms speak freely in front of her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

But as so often happens, a tipple that initially made matrons clutch their pearls quickly became a regular feature on the society sideboard, and this John Collins-Tom Collins became a classic.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2023

“Pacific Heights matrons would bring their Dom Perignon.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2023

Band 7 includes ward sisters and junior matrons, earning between £41,659 and £47,672.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2022

Oh, but it did unsettle the matrons of Bethlehem to see the poor thing boosted into a class ahead of their own children, there to become dazzling slick-quick at mathematics.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Related Words

• dowager
• housekeeper
• matriarch