Matron vs Abbess - What's the difference?
matron | abbess |
A mature woman; a wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children; a woman of staid or motherly manners.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:your wives, your daughters, your matrons , and your maids
*(Thomas Fuller) (1606-1661)
*:grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she was a mother
*
*:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron ; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable,.
A housekeeper; especially, a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public institution; a head nurse in a hospital.
:
A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks.
As nouns the difference between matron and abbess
is that matron is a mature woman; a wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children; a woman of staid or motherly manners while abbess is a female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks.matron
English
(Webster 1913)Noun
(en noun)abbess
English
(wikipedia abbess)Noun
(es)- The ''abbess'' was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean.