Definition

Adverb: - By descent through the female line: In a manner relating to, based on, or tracing ancestry, inheritance, or kinship through the mother's line.

Usage

The adverb "matrilineally" is used to modify a verb, describing an action (like tracing, inheriting, or passing something down) that follows a maternal lineage. It is a formal term often found in anthropological, historical, genetic, or sociological contexts.

Examples

• The clan's leadership is passed down matrilineally, from a queen to her eldest daughter.
• In some cultures, property is inherited matrilineally.
• Geneticists traced the rare trait matrilineally through several generations of women.

Advanced Usage

• "Matrilineally derived": Obtained or originating through the female line.
  • The tradition is matrilineally derived and has been preserved for centuries.
• "To trace something matrilineally": To follow the lineage of something back through mothers.
  • The family history was traced matrilineally using mitochondrial DNA.

Variants and Related Words

• Matrilineal (adjective): Of or based on kinship with the mother or the female line.
  • They follow a matrilineal system of inheritance.
• Matrilineage (noun): A line of descent traced through the maternal side.
  • Her research focuses on the royal matrilineage.
• Matriliny (noun): The practice of tracing descent through the female line.
  • Matriliny is a central feature of their social structure.

Synonyms

• Through the maternal line
• On the mother's side

Antonyms

• Patrilineally (adverb): By descent through the male line.
• Agnatically (adverb): By descent through the male line; in a patrilineal manner.

Adverb

1. by descent through the female line