matrass (matras)

[F. matras, a chemical ve el so called from its long straight narrow neck, Protect from violent storms, and the too parching darts of the sun, your penn ached tulips and ranunculuses, covering them with matra es. Evelyn , Calendarium Hortense. matres, n. Plural of mater2 . An obsolete form of mattre . matre t, n. matriarch (ma'tri-ärk), n. [L. mater , ἀρχός , a leader, ruler, ἄρχειν , rule.] 1. The wife of a patriarch. [Rare.] Dr. Southey has cla ed this injured Matriarch [Job's Southey , The Doctor, cxvii. ( Davies .) wife] with Xantippe and Mrs. Wesley. 2. A woman who holds (to some extent or in some respect) in a family or tribe a position analogous to that of a patriarch. See matriarchy. matriarchal (mā-tri-är'kal), a. [ The Indian tribes farther south are largely matriarchal , reckoning descent not on the father's but the mother's E. B. Tylor , Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVI. side. Here the matriarchal system is still in existence the Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XL. 214. eldest daughter inherits all.