apron-string tenure
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A tenure held in virtue of one's wife. Tied to his mother's apron- string. Completely under his mother's thumb. Applied to a big boy or young man who is still under mother rule.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “apron-string tenure” mean?
A tenure held in virtue of one's wife. Tied to his mother's apron- string. Completely under his mother's thumb. Applied to a big boy or young man who is still under mother rule.
Is “apron-string tenure” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.