Matriarchate
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A matriarchal system or community.
"The fact that in most lands the moon was originally a female deity has led many historians to dispute the superiority of the moon over the sun in ancient mythology. In putting forth this argument they overlook one important and significant factor: the existence of a matriarchate preceding the domination of woman by man. That such a condition was perfectly natural will be realized when it is remembered there was no recognition of the part played by the male in fecundation."
- 2 a form of social organization in which a female is the family head and title is traced through the female line wordnet
- 3 The position of a matriarch.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"The fact that in most lands the moon was originally a female deity has led many historians to dispute the superiority of the moon over the sun in ancient mythology. In putting forth this argument they overlook one important and significant factor: the existence of a matriarchate preceding the domination of woman by man. That such a condition was perfectly natural will be realized when it is remembered there was no recognition of the part played by the male in fecundation."
Etymology
From matriarch + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, a system ruled by people of such office), modeled after patriarchate.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.