Matrona

See also: matrona, matróna, Matroną, and matroną

Latin

View of the river

Etymology

From Gaulish Mātronā (Dea Matrona), cognate to Middle Welsh Modron, from Proto-Celtic *Mātronā, a derivative of *mātīr (“mother”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmaː.tro.na/, [ˈmäːt̪rɔnä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈma.tro.na/, [ˈmäːt̪ronä]

Proper noun

Mātrona f sg or m sg (genitive Mātronae); first declension

1. The river Marne
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.1:

     Gallōs ab Aquītānī Garumna flūmen, ā Belgīs Mātrona et Sēquana dīvidit.

     The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitanians, the Marne and the Seine from the Belgians.

   • c. 370 CE, Ausonius, Mosella 461–463:

     Nōn tibi sē Liger anteferet, non Axona praeceps,
     Mātrona nōn, Gallīs Belgīsque intersita fīnīs,
     Santonicō refluus non ipse Carantonus aestū.

     Not the Loire will have preference before you, not precipitous Aisne,
     not the Marne, put between the Gaulish and Belgian lands,
     not the Charente himself, driven back by the Santonic tide.

2. The goddess associated with the river
   • 2nd century AD, altar inscription CIL XIII, 5674:

     Successus Natalis l(ibertus) maceriem caementiciam circa hoc templum de sua pecunia Matronae ex voto suscepto v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)

     • 2009 translation by Noémie Beck

       Successus, freed from Natalis, had this outer wall in rubble stones built around this temple at his own expense in honour of Matrona, after making a vow, and paid his vow willingly and deservedly

Usage notes

The gender as a river name is variously given as masculine, feminine, or variable in dictionaries and grammars. Feminine follows the general gender assignment of first declension nouns; masculine follows a general rule that river names in Latin were masculine. Both rules have exceptions. It is feminine in Ausonius.

Declension

First-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Mātrona
genitive	Mātronae
dative	Mātronae
accusative	Mātronam
ablative	Mātronā
vocative	Mātrona

Descendants

• French: Marne
• → Old English: Mæterne

Further reading

• “Matrona”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934) “Matrona”, in Dictionnaire illustré latin-français [Illustrated Latin-French Dictionary] (in French), Hachette.
• “Matrona”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Mātrōna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈtrɔ.na/
• Rhymes: -ɔna
• Syllabification: Ma‧tro‧na
• Homophone: matrona

Proper noun

Matrona f

1. a female given name from Latin

Declension

Declension of Matrona

	singular	plural
nominative	Matrona	Matrony
genitive	Matrony	Matron
dative	Matronie	Matronom
accusative	Matronę	Matrony
instrumental	Matroną	Matronami
locative	Matronie	Matronach
vocative	Matrono	Matrony