MATRON n.
A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children; a woman of staid or motherly manners. Your wives, your daughters, Your matrons, and your maids. Shak. Grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she was a mother. Fuller.
NATURAL a.
own in the structure of all parts of the organisms, and by their embryology. It should be borne in mind that the natural system of botany is natural only in the constitution of its genera, tribes, orders, etc., and in its grand divisions. Gray. -- Natural theology, or Natural religion, that part of theological science…
PALANQUIN n.
d carriage or litter, commonly about eight feet long, four feet wide, and four feet high, borne on the shoulders of men by means of two projecting poles, -- used in India, China, etc., for the conveyance of a single person from place to place. [Written also palankeen.]
PASTORAL a.
toral letter. Pastoral staff (Eccl.), a staff, usually of the form of a shepherd's crook, borne as an official emblem by a bishop, abbot, abbess, or other prelate privileged to carry it. See Crook, and Crosier. -- Pastoral Theology, that part of theology which treats of the duties of pastors.
PATRONYMIC n.
A modification of the father's name borne by the son; a name derived from that of a parent or ancestor; as, Pelides, the son of Peleus; Johnson, the son of John; Macdonald, the son of Donald; Paulowitz, the son of Paul; also, the surname of a family; the family name. M. A. Lower.