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
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
“There are properties that are destroyed, campers down by the river,” said Libby Hoffman, matron at the Jefferson County Jail.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 14, 2024
The matron consulted a list in her hand, then called the name of a lady I didn’t even know, one of those who had been at Willem’s prayer meeting.
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.
