Patriarchy

//ˈpejtɹiɑɹki// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line wordnet
  3. 3
    A power structure in which men are dominant. countable, uncountable

    "England is under the rule of a patriarchy."

  4. 4
    The office of a patriarch; a patriarchate. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
archbishopricaristocracyautarchyautonomybishopricchancellery

Example

More examples

"Guterres, who referred to himself as “a proud feminist,” also called for dismantling the “patriarchy” and moving toward gender parity."

Etymology

From Latin patriarchia, from Byzantine Greek πατριαρχία (patriarkhía), from Koine Greek πατριάρχης (patriárkhēs, “patriarch”), from πατρία (patría) and ἄρχω (árkhō). By surface analysis, patri- + -archy.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.