patriarchy
nounUS /ˈpejtɹiɑɹki/ · UK /ˈpeɪ̯tɹɪɑːkɪ/
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.
1
Anthropology, History, Human sciences, Sciences 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.
- England is under the rule of a patriarchy.1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own:
3
Christianity The office of a patriarch; a patriarchate.
- Derived terms
- antipatriarchy, batriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, cispatriarchy, heteropatriarchy, homopatriarchy, neopatriarchy, patriarchial, postpatriarchy, transpatriarchy
- Related terms
- patriarch, patriarchate, patriarchal, matriarchy