matrilocality
- noun
- /ˌmætrɪloʊˈkælɪti/
- Specialized
- Matrilocality is practiced by many indigenous groups, where husbands live with their wives' relatives.
Examples
-
In their culture, matrilocality means the couple moves in with the wife's family after the wedding.
-
Traditional preferences for matrilocality and proximity of residences, along with a desire to maintain large expanses of land for extensive resource use, are exhibited in the modern cultural landscape of the Mescalero reservation.
Academic text (1990) -
Evidence of the reassertion of tradition became evident in house location, clustering, and matrilocality.
Academic text (1990) -
The concept of matrilocality helps preserve family ties by keeping the couple close to the wife's relatives.
Antonyms
- Specialized
1
8.9
A custom where a married couple lives with or near the husband's family
How Matrilocal
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
8.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
matrilocality = matrilocal (semi-transparent) = matri + local + ity
Derived from 'matrilocal' with -ity; the combining form 'matri-' is bound and the concept is a technical anthropological term, so inference is only partly straightforward for learners.
Etymology
Matrilocality comes from the parts matri- meaning 'mother' and local meaning 'near' or 'place', as in maternal. So, in some human societies matrilocality means a married couple lives near the wife's family, literally living on the 'mother' side.