matron

noun

1. 1

   A mature or elderly woman, especially one of a higher social rank.

   grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she was a mother

2. 2

   A mature or elderly woman, especially one of a higher social rank. A woman with the character of a mother or matriarch.

   But there’s no bottome, none / In my Voluptuouſneſſe : Your Wiues, your Daughters, / Your Matrons, and your Maides, could not fill vp / The Ceſterne of my Luſt, and my Deſire / All continent Impediments would ore-beare / That did oppoſe my will.

   “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable,[…].

3. 3

   A mature or elderly woman, especially one of a higher social rank. A woman in charge of the domestic arrangements of an establishment or institution, especially, the nursing officer or chief nurse of a hospital.

   the matron of a school or hospital

4. 4

   A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children.

   Roman matrons, sexually exhausted, were fond of trout caught in a little stream in the Vosges Mountains.

5. 5

   A housekeeper, especially, a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public institution.

6. 6

   A female prison officer.

Forms

plural

matrons