Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or characteristic of a matriarchy: Describes societies, families, or systems where women, especially mothers, hold primary power, authority, and leadership.
   • Having descent traced through the female line: Pertains to kinship systems where lineage, inheritance, and family name are passed down from mother to children.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The anthropologist studied a matriarchic society in which property was inherited by daughters.
  • Their family structure is distinctly matriarchic, with the eldest woman making the major decisions.
  • Some ancient cultures are believed to have had matriarchic social orders.

Advanced Usage

• "matriarchic system": A societal or familial structure organized under female authority.
  • The tribe's matriarchic system ensured that clan leadership was always held by a woman.
• "matriarchic lineage": Descent traced exclusively through female ancestors.
  • Tracing their matriarchic lineage was crucial for determining royal succession.

Variants and Related Words

• Matriarchy (n): A social system or family structure in which women hold the primary power.
  • The concept of a matriarchy is often contrasted with a patriarchy.
• Matriarch (n): A woman who is the head of a family or tribe.
  • The respected matriarch of the clan settled all disputes.
• Matrilineal (adj): Relating to or based on kinship with the mother or the female line.
  • Their matrilineal inheritance customs are a key feature of their culture.

Synonyms

• Matrilineal: Tracing descent through the female line.
• Matrifocal: Centered on or dominated by the mother.

Antonyms

• Patriarchic: Relating to a system where men hold the primary power and descent is traced through the male line.
• Patrilineal: Tracing descent through the male line.

Adjective

1. (of societies or families) having a female as the family head or having descent traced through the female line