matriarchy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

[edit]

Coined after patriarchy, from Latin māter (mother) and Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō, I rule). By surface analysis, matri- +‎ -archy.

Noun

[edit]

matriarchy (countable and uncountable, plural matriarchies)

  1. A social system in which the mother is head of household, having authority over men and children, and lineage is traced through the female line.
    • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 149:
      The difficulty is that when a man thinks of matriarchy, he thinks of a patriarchy with women in the place of men; he does not stop to consider that matriarchy may be a complete mirror-image. Where patriarchy establishes law, matriarchy establishes custom; where patriarchy establishes military power, matriarchy establishes religious authority; where patriarchy encourages the aresteia of the individual warrior, matriarchy encourages the tradition-bound cohesion of the collective. When, therefore, one envisions a matriarchy, one should not conjure up visions of a gang of Amazons lopping off breasts and testicles to rule by force of arms.
  2. A system of government by females (particularly as a kind of polity).
  3. The dominance of women in social or cultural systems.

Synonyms

[edit]

Antonyms

[edit]
[edit]

Translations

[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

[edit]