From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Matron \Ma"tron\, noun [F. matrone, L. matrona, fr. mater mother. See {Mother}.]
1. A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children; a woman of staid or motherly manners.
Your wives, your daughters, Your matrons, and your maids. --Shak.
Grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she was a mother. --Fuller.
2. A housekeeper; esp., a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public instution; a head nurse in a hospital; as, the matron of a school or hospital.
{Jury of matrons} (Law), a jury of experienced women called to determine the question of pregnancy when set up in bar of execution, and for other cognate purposes.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a married woman (usually middle-aged with children) who is staid and dignified
3: a woman in charge of nursing in a medical institution [syn: {head nurse}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
47 Moby Thesaurus words for "matron": Eve, Frau, abbess, better half, chatelaine, common-law wife, concubine, dame, daughter of Eve, distaff, domina, donna, dowager, feme, feme covert, femme, first lady, frow, gentlewoman, girl, goodwife, goody, governess, grande dame, great lady, helpmate, helpmeet, homemaker, housewife, lady, lass, madam, married woman, matriarch, milady, mistress, mother superior, old lady, old woman, rib, squaw, vrouw, wahine, weaker vessel, wedded wife, wife, woman
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