ma·tron

(mā′trən)

1. A married woman or a widow, especially a mother of dignity, mature age, and established social position.

2. A woman who acts as a supervisor or monitor in a public institution, such as a school, hospital, or prison.

[Middle English matrone, from Old French, from Latin mātrōna, from māter, mātr-, mother; see māter- in Indo-European roots.]

ma′tron·al adj.

ma′tron·li·ness n.

ma′tron·ly adv. & adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

matronly

(ˈmeɪtrənlɪ)

adj

of, characteristic of, or suitable for a matron; staid and dignified in a manner associated with a middle-aged, usually plump, woman

ˈmatronliness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ma•tron•ly

(ˈmeɪ trən li)

adj.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a matron; mature and dignified.

[1650–60]

ma′tron•li•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

matronly - befitting or characteristic of a fully mature woman; "her matronly figure"

womanly, feminine - befitting or characteristic of a woman especially a mature woman; "womanly virtues of gentleness and compassion"

Translations

سَمينَه إلى حدِ مامُحْتَرَمهَ، مَهيبَه

důstojnýkorpulentní

matroneagtigmyndig

matronenhaft

corpulent

anyányiasszonyos

frúarlegurholdugur

matroneaktig satt og verdig

ağırbaşlı ve sakinşişmanca

有尊严的肥胖的

matronly

[ˈmeɪtrənlɪ] ADJ → matronal, de matrona; [figure] → maduro y algo corpulento

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

matronly

[ˈmeɪtrənli] adj [woman, figure] → imposant(e)matron of honour n → dame f d'honneur

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

matronly

adj → matronenhaft

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

matronly

[ˈmeɪtr/ənlɪ] adj (figure, behaviour) → da matrona

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

matron

(ˈmeitrən) noun

1. a senior nurse in charge of a hospital.

2. a dignified married woman. Her behaviour shocked all the middle-class matrons in the neighbourhood.

ˈmatronly adjective

1. dignified and calm.

2. rather fat. a matronly figure.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The women were both of goodly height, Madame Ratignolle possessing the more feminine and matronly figure.

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Men are so helpless, Mother," said Amy, with a matronly air, which delighted her husband.

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Biddy looked down at her child, and put its little hand to her lips, and then put the good matronly hand with which she had touched it, into mine.

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She was of the same curly-haired, square-faced type as Mary, but handsomer, with more delicacy of feature, a pale skin, a solid matronly figure, and a remarkable firmness of glance.

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Cronshaw, hearing her, turned a sheepish eye upon her; she was stout, matronly, and middle-aged; and solemnly kissed his hand to her.

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He had "a way with him"--revealed even in the manner with which he caught staid Aunt Janet in his arms, swung her matronly form around as though she had been a slim schoolgirl, and kissed her rosy cheek.

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Diana Wright, three years older than when we last saw her, had grown somewhat matronly in the intervening time.

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I shall never forget the wise and matronly advice you once gave me, when I lamented being disappointed of a ball, though you could not be then fourteen years old.

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'I am much obliged to you,' returned the old woman, testifying by a certain restlessness in her hands a vehement desire to shake her matronly fist at her son-in-law.

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Such an interview, perhaps, would have been more terrible than even to meet him as she now did, with the hot mid-day sun burning down upon her face, and lighting up its shame; with the scarlet token of infamy on her breast; with the sin-born infant in her arms; with a whole people, drawn forth as to a festival, staring at the features that should have been seen only in the quiet gleam of the fireside, in the happy shadow of a home, or beneath a matronly veil at church.

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A little older she looks; her form a little fuller; her air more matronly than of yore; but evidently contented and happy as woman need be.

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- I dine between twelve and one o'clock; the housekeeper, a matronly lady, taken as a fixture along with the house, could not, or would not, comprehend my request that I might be served at five) - on mounting the stairs with this lazy intention, and stepping into the room, I saw a servant-girl on her knees surrounded by brushes and coal-scuttles, and raising an infernal dust as she extinguished the flames with heaps of cinders.

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