Etymologically
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matronalis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 12:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [maː.troːˈnaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ma.troˈnaː.lis][1]

Forms

mātrōnālis (neuter mātrōnāle, adverb mātrōnāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mātrōna (“married woman, matron”) + -ālis;[2][1] ⟨mātrōna⟩ is from māter (“mother”).[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL date it from Laberius, whose mime speaks of matronly modesty.[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is what belongs to or befits a married woman, and Lewis & Short note that Cicero does not use it.[6][2] Livy speaks of women forgetting matronly honour, Pliny the Younger of a girl's matronly dignity, and Suetonius of matronly rank;[6] in the jurists the habitus mātrōnālis is the stola.[6]

Timeline

  • 106–43 BC – Laberius uses it in a mime.[4][5]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy writes of decus mātrōnāle, a matron's honour.[6][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of matronly rank.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, belonging to or befitting a married woman; matronly.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press