A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1498-1586, 1637-1670
[0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0]
Matron, n. Also: matrone, -oun. [Late ME. matroun (Lydgate), late ME., e.m.E. and F. matrone, L. mātrōna.] A (more or less senior and respectable) married woman. a1400 Legends of the Saints xxxi. 268.
A matrone … Fayr, nobil & of gret kyne a1400 Ib. xxxix. 35. 1498 Dunferm. B. Rec. I. 327.
Ane honest matrone Cristiane Foular in hir vedowate c1500-50 Brevis Cronica 329.
Eftir deflorand virginnis and matronys 1513 Doug. ii. xii. 51.
Nor go to serve na matron [R. matroun] Gregion 1513 Ib. xi. v. 71.
The wofull moderis and matronys 1513 Ib. xiii. viii. 4.
The matronys and ȝong damysellis 1513 Ib. v. xiii. 64, xii. x. 124, xiii. iv. 33. 1533 Bell. Livy II. 9/9. a1570-86 Maitland Folio MS clxxviii. 7.
Honest matrons and guid wyffis c1552 Lynd. Mon. 1905.
Virginis and matronis ar deflorit a1578 Pitsc. I. 146/4.
The matrounis wnderstanding this damesell dessawit in this matter 1637 Edinb. B. Rec. VII. 196.
Wemen's … weiring of thair … pittiecottis about thair heeds … [results in] matrones not being abill to be discerned frome strumpettis and louse leiving wemen 1670 Foulis Acc. Bk. liv.
Ane godly wyffe, wirteous and honest matrone
b. As the distinctive designation of a married female saint, esp. Saint Anne.In the second quot. there is appar. some blending with Patroun patron. ?c1500 Rathen Manual 28/1.
The autorite of Sanct Anne Sanct Marie Magdalenne and all haly matronis 1500 Edinb. B. Rec. I. 82.
At the altar of Sanct An, oure matrone of the samen 1519 Aberd. B. Rec. I. 96.
In honor of God and the glorius matron Sanct Anne 1525 St. A. Formulare I. 269.
Throuch the auctorite of … all haly virginis and matronis … I denunce [etc.] a1550 Goldin Latany 212/250.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Matron n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/matron>
