Chapter Matinal to Mature of M by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

Matrimony
(Mat"ri*mo*ny) n. [OE. matrimoine, through Old French, fr. L. matrimonium, fr. mater mother. See Mother.]

1. The union of man and woman as husband and wife; the nuptial state; marriage; wedlock.

If either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, ye do now confess it.

Book of Com. Prayer (Eng. Ed. )

2. A kind of game at cards played by several persons.

Matrimony vine (Bot.), a climbing thorny vine (Lycium barbarum) of the Potato family. Gray.

Syn. — Marriage; wedlock. See Marriage.

Matrix
(Ma"trix) n.; pl. Matrices [L., fr. mater mother. See Mother, and cf. Matrice.]

1. (Anat.) The womb.

All that openeth the matrix is mine.

Ex. xxxiv. 19.

2. Hence, that which gives form or origin to anything; as: (a) (Mech.) The cavity in which anything is formed, and which gives it shape; a die; a mold, as for the face of a type. (b) (Min.) The earthy or stony substance in which metallic ores or crystallized minerals are found; the gangue. (c) pl. (Dyeing) The five simple colors, black, white, blue, red, and yellow, of which all the rest are composed.

3. (Biol.) The lifeless portion of tissue, either animal or vegetable, situated between the cells; the intercellular substance.

4. (Math.) A rectangular arrangement of symbols in rows and columns. The symbols may express quantities or operations.

Matron
(Ma"tron) n. [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.

Matronage
(Mat"ron*age) n.

1. The state of a matron.

2. The collective body of matrons. Burke.

Can a politician slight the feelings and convictions of the whole matronage of his country ?

Hare.

Matronal
(Mat"ron*al) a. [L. matronalis.] Of or pertaining to a matron; suitable to an elderly lady or to a married woman; grave; motherly.

Matronhood
(Ma"tron*hood) n. The state of being a matron.