matron

noun

ma·​tron ˈmā-trən 

1

a

: a married woman usually marked by dignified maturity or social distinction (see distinction sense 4a)

b

: a woman who supervises women or children (as in a school or police station)

c

: the chief officer in a women's organization

2

: a female animal kept for breeding

Synonyms

• dame
• dowager
• grande dame
• matriarch

Examples of matron in a Sentence

society matrons who organize benefits for charity

the matron of a school for girls

Recent Examples on the Web

The two-year-old daughter of the steward and the matron, who were married, scampered around the wards and played with the residents. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024

Half a dozen of the boldest ones took it upon themselves to defy the steward and the matron, and to circumvent the gatehouse guards, who were ostensibly there to prevent undesirable visitors. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024

Adams is the ideal vessel for that discovery: The character is more clueless about reality than her elders, and yet her idealism is rooted in a humanism that Streep’s reactionary matron lacks. —Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024

The actor Ruth Gordon, now best known for playing the elder matron with a macabre edge in Harold and Maude and Rosemary’s Baby, bought the place thanks to her friend Katharine Hepburn, whose best roles Gordon wrote with her husband, Garson Kanin. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English matrone, from Anglo-French, from Latin matrona, from matr-, mater

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing matron

• matron of honor

Kids Definition

matron

noun

ma·​tron ˈmā-trən 

1

: a usually mature and dignified married woman

2

: a woman in charge of the household affairs of an institution

3

: a woman who supervises women prisoners in a police station or jail

Medical Definition

matron

noun

ma·​tron ˈmā-trən 

British

: a woman superintendent of a medical institution (as a hospital)