Meanings
plural matriarchies
- countableuncountableA social system in which the mother is head of household, having authority over men and children, and lineage is traced through the female line.
1 more example
The difficulty is that when a man thinks of matriarchy, he thinks of a patriarchy with women in the place of men; he does not stop to consider that matriarchy may be a complete mirror-image. Where patriarchy establishes law, matriarchy establishes custom; where patriarchy establishes military power, matriarchy establishes religious authority; where patriarchy encourages the aresteia of the individual warrior, matriarchy encourages the tradition-bound cohesion of the collective. When, therefore, one envisions a matriarchy, one should not conjure up visions of a gang of Amazons lopping off breasts and testicles to rule by force of arms.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 149 - countableuncountableA system of government by women (particularly as a kind of polity).
- countableuncountableThe dominance of women in social or cultural systems.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna form of social organization in which a female is the family head and title is traced through the female line
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekἄρχω“to rule”
- Latinmāter“mother”
- Englishmatriarchy
Coined after patriarchy, from Latin māter (“mother”) and Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”). By surface analysis, matri- + -archy.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic الأمومية
- الأمومية (al-umumiyya)social system
Bulgarian матриарха́т
- матриарха́т (matriarhát)social system
Catalan matriarcat
- matriarcatsocial system
Chinese Mandarin 母權制 /母权制, 母權 /母权
- 母權制 /母权制 (mǔquánzhì)social system
- 母權 /母权 (mǔquán)social system
Czech matriarchát, matriarchát
- matriarchátsocial system
- matriarchátsystem of government
Esperanto matriarkeco, matriarĥeco
- matriarkecosocial system
- matriarĥecosystem of government
- matriarkecosystem of government
Finnish matriarkia, naisvalta
- matriarkiasocial system
- naisvaltasocial system
- matriarkiasystem of government
- naisvaltasystem of government
French matriarcat
- matriarcatsocial system
German Matriarchat
- Matriarchatsocial system
Greek μητριαρχία, μητριαρχία
- μητριαρχία (mitriarchía)social system
- μητριαρχία (mitriarchía)system of government
Hindi मातृसत्ता, मातृसत्ता
- मातृसत्ता (mātŕsattā)social system
- मातृसत्ता (mātŕsattā)system of government
Hungarian matriarchátus
- matriarchátussocial system
Italian matriarcato
- matriarcatosocial system
Japanese 家母長制, 母権制
- 家母長制 (kabochōsei)social system
- 母権制 (bokensei)social system
- 母権 (boken)social system
Korean 모권제, 모권
- 모권제 (mogwonje)social system
- 모권 (mogwon)social system
Polish matriarchat, matriarchat
- matriarchatsocial system
- matriarchatsystem of government
Portuguese matriarcado, matriarcado
- matriarcadosocial system
- matriarcadosystem of government
Romanian matriarhat, matriarhat
- matriarhatsocial system
- matriarhatsystem of government
Russian матриарха́т, матриарха́т
- матриарха́т (matriarxát)social system
- матриарха́т (matriarxát)system of government
Spanish matriarcado, matriarcado
- matriarcadosocial system
- matriarcadosystem of government
Swedish matriarkat
- matriarkatsocial system
Thai มาตาธิปไตย, มาตาธิปไตย
- มาตาธิปไตย (maa-dtaa-tí-bpà-dtai)social system
- มาตาธิปไตย (maa-dtaa-tí-bpà-dtai)system of government
Turkish anaerki
- anaerkisocial system
Ukrainian матріарха́т
- матріарха́т (matriarxát)system of government
Cite this entry
matriarchy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matriarchy
“matriarchy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matriarchy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “matriarchy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matriarchy.
Source: matriarchy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.