matriarchy

English

Etymology

Coined after patriarchy, from Latin māter (mother) and Greek ἄρχω (I rule).

Noun

matriarchy (plural matriarchies)

A social system in which the mother is head of household, having authority over men and children.
- 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.
A system of government by females (particularly as a kind of polity).
The dominance of women in social or cultural systems.

Synonyms

matriarchate

Antonyms

patriarchy

Related terms

matriarchal

Translations

social system

Arabic: الأمومية‎ f (al-umumiyya)
Catalan: matriarcat m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 母權制／母权制 (zh) (mǔquánzhì), 母權／母权 (zh) (mǔquán)
Czech: matriarchát (cs) m
Esperanto: matriarĥeco, matriarkeco
Finnish: matriarkia
French: matriarcat (fr) m
Galician: matriarcado m
German: Matriarchat (de) m or n
Greek: μητριαρχία (el) f (mitriarchía)
Hindi: मातृसत्ता f (mātŕsattā)
Hungarian: matriarchátus
Italian: matriarcato (it) m
Japanese: 家母長制 (かぼちょうせい, kabochōsei), 母権制 (ぼけんせい, bokensei), 母権 (ぼけん, boken)
Kazakh: матриархат (matriarxat)
Korean: 모권제 (mogwonje), 모권 (mogwon)
Kyrgyz: энебийлик (enebiylik)
Polish: matriarchat (pl) m
Portuguese: matriarcado m
Russian: матриарха́т (ru) m (matriarxát)
Spanish: matriarcado (es) m
Swedish: matriarkat (sv)
Thai: มาตาธิปไตย (maa-dtaa-tí-bpà-dtai)

system of government

Czech: matriarchát (cs) m
Esperanto: matriarĥeco, matriarkeco
Finnish: matriarkia
Galician: matriarcado m
Greek: μητριαρχία (el) f (mitriarchía)
Hindi: मातृसत्ता f (mātŕsattā)
Kazakh: матриархат (matriarxat)
Kyrgyz: энебийлик (enebiylik)
Polish: matriarchat (pl) m
Portuguese: matriarcado m
Russian: матриарха́т (ru) m (matriarxát)
Spanish: matriarcado (es) m
Thai: มาตาธิปไตย (maa-dtaa-tí-bpà-dtai)
Ukrainian: матріарха́т m (matriarxát)

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

Translations to be checked

Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 女家長制／女家长制 (nǚjiāzhǎngzhì), ^{(please verify)} 母系制度 (mǔxì zhìdù)
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} matriarchaat (nl) n
Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} matriarchia
Khmer: ^{(please verify)} មាតាធិបតេយ្យ (mea da thib pak tai)
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} matriarki n