moiety
- noun
- /ˈmɔɪ.ə.ti/
- Specialized
:
moiety
- At Cochiti, two versions of the Buffalo dance occurred, each performed by different moieties.
- moiety affiliation
- wolf moiety
- opposite moiety
Examples
-
The Mohawk, the Onondaga, and the Seneca formed the Senior moiety, and the Oneida and the Cayuga formed the Junior Moiety.
-
Traditional Tlingit society was divided into matrilineal moieties and clans, the latter being further subdivided into matrilineages.
Academic text (1990) -
The moieties are not equal, however, and members of one moiety may have higher status than members of another, at least temporarily.
Academic text (2004) -
The wolf moiety is the equivalent of the eagle in parts of Southeast Alaska.
Academic text (2009) -
Finally, the village is divided into five sets of ritual moieties corresponding to initiatory grades of the cult.
Academic text (1992) -
The moieties serve functions of marriage (traditionally, one had to marry a person from the opposite moiety) and societal-ceremonial reciprocation.
Academic text (2009) -
Either descent or name bestowal can confer the right to hamlet residence as well as totemic group and moiety affiliations.
Academic text (1992) -
There is strong rivalry between moieties during competitive long yam exchanges and in cult initiatory rites.
Academic text (1992) -
Pena depicted both the Pumpkin moiety's version, exemplified by its dual female roles, as well as the Turquoise moiety's variation with its single female participant.
Academic text (1994) -
In many Indigenous cultures, the tribe is often divided into two distinct moieties that dictate social roles.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Etymology
Moiety originally meant 'half', coming from the old Latin medius 'middle' and Old French moitié 'half', so the word can also mean one of two social groups or 'halves' of a tribe.