patriarchy

English

Etymology

From Latin patriarchia, from Byzantine Greek πατριαρχία (patriarkhía), from Koine Greek πατριάρχης (patriárkhēs, patriarch), from πατρία (patría) and ἄρχω (árkhō).

Pronunciation

Noun

patriarchy (countable and uncountable, plural patriarchies)

  1. (anthropology, history) A social system in which the father is head of the household, having authority over women and children, and in which lineage is traced through the male line.
  2. A power structure in which men are dominant.
    • 1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own:
      England is under the rule of a patriarchy.
  3. (Christianity) The office of a patriarch; a patriarchate.

Derived terms

Translations

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See also

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