Matronly means dignified and rather stout, said of an older woman. A matronly figure, matronly and kind, look matronly.
It is meant as description and lands as an insult more often than not, since almost nobody wants to be called it. There is no equivalent word for a man, which is worth noticing. The matron it comes from was once simply a married woman.
1adjectivematronlyDignified and rather stout, said of an older woman.
“The matronly housekeeper bustled around the kitchen, giving orders to the maids.”
matronly is a quality.
Latin
mātrōna — married woman
Old French
matrone
Middle English
matrone
English
matron
English, today
matronly
Built from
From matron + -ly. matron comes from Middle English matrone, from Old French matrone, from Latin mātrōna (“married woman”), from māter (“mother”). a doublet of matrona.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA