What does "matron" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "matron"?

Common synonyms include: abbess, beldam, better half, biddies, chatelaine, common-law wife.

/ˈmeɪtɹən/ noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

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
a married woman (usually middle-aged with children) who is staid and dignified wordnet
3
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."
4
a woman in charge of nursing in a medical institution wordnet
5
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"

Show 4 more definitions

6
a wardress in a prison wordnet
7
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."
8
A housekeeper, especially, a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public institution.
9
A female prison officer. US

"A clever salesman will always ask a matron if her mother is at home."

From Middle English matrone, from Old French matrone, from Latin mātrōna (“married woman”), from māter (“mother”). Doublet of matrona.