matriarchal
- adjective
- /ˌmeɪtriˈɑrkəl/
- In a matriarchal society, women often hold the key leadership roles in family and community decisions.
- matriarchal civilization
- matriarchal culture
You know, cows from these strong matriarchal herds, chickens have these flocks.
- You know, cows from these strong matriarchal herds, chickens have these flocks.
- We went down to a matriarchal society in, in, in a place called Kunming in, in, in the South of China.
- And there's a lot more, as you say, patriarchal, matriarchal influence.
- Yeah, I want you to go matriarchal with me too.
Examples
-
Keep an open mind to every possibility, for they suggest matriarchal lineage is the norm.
Blog text (34) -
A year earlier, she'd been an imposing woman who filled her home with calm, matriarchal authority.
Fiction book (1992) -
Each fall, I returned to the matriarchal home and school in Vienna.
Fiction book (1990) -
There needs to be an examination of the matriarchal nature of Black American culture.
Blog text (15) -
Next question, I was wondering if you studied any matriarchal society, such as the American Hopi Indians.
-
"God provides," she assured me, with her unflappable, matriarchal, Celtic faith in the triumph of all things female.
Fiction book (1993) -
History may forget, and there may be only faint traces of a matriarchal time when a goddess was worshipped.
Academic text (1993) -
Only a woman of Judy's matriarchal bearing and conviction could withstand the intensity surrounding her with such level-headed calm.
Fiction book (1997) -
We glimpse the possibilities of an empowered female, a matriarchal utopia, and a thoroughly feminized Christianity.
Academic text (2003) -
Pilate's unconventional, matriarchal, marginalized family unit contrasts with Macon and Ruth's conventional, patriarchal, bourgeois family.
Academic text (1997)
Synonyms
A family or society where the mother is the main person in charge
A society or family led by women where children belong to the mother's family
Antonyms
How Female-Led
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Matriarchal comes from the parts matri- meaning 'mother' and -arch meaning 'ruler', the same root you see in monarch. So a matriarchal society is one where mothers or women hold the main power.