noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈmeɪ.tɹiˌɑː.ki/
General-American:/ˈmeɪ.tɹiˌɑɹ.ki/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:M EY1 T R IY0 AA2 R K IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A social system in which the mother is head of household, having authority over men and children, and lineage is traced through the female line.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A system of government by females (particularly as a kind of polity).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The dominance of women in social or cultural systems.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a form of social organization in which a female is the family head and title is traced through the female line
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: matriarchate
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: social organization, social organisation, social structure, social system, structure
History
Etymology
Coined after patriarchy, from Latin māter (“mother”) and Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”). By surface analysis, matri- + -archy.
Across languages
Translations
51 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
الأمومية
(al-umumiyya)
— social system
Azerbaijani:
anaxaqanlıq
— social system
Azerbaijani:
matriarxat
— social system
Bulgarian:
матриарха́т
(matriarhát)
— social system
Catalan:
matriarcat
— social system
Chinese Mandarin:
母權制 /母权制
(mǔquánzhì)
— social system
Chinese Mandarin:
母權 /母权
(mǔquán)
— social system
Czech:
matriarchát
— social system
Esperanto:
matriarĥeco
— social system
Esperanto:
matriarkeco
— social system
Finnish:
matriarkia
— social system
Finnish:
naisvalta
— social system
French:
matriarcat
— social system
Galician:
matriarcado
— social system
German:
Matriarchat
— social system
Greek:
μητριαρχία
(mitriarchía)
— social system
Hindi:
मातृसत्ता
(mātŕsattā)
— social system
Hungarian:
matriarchátus
— social system
Italian:
matriarcato
— social system
Japanese:
家母長制
(kabochōsei)
— social system
Japanese:
母権制
(bokensei)
— social system
Japanese:
母権
(boken)
— social system
Kazakh:
матриархат
(matriarxat)
— social system
Korean:
모권제
(mogwonje)
— social system
Korean:
모권
(mogwon)
— social system
Kyrgyz:
энебийлик
(enebiylik)
— social system
Polish:
matriarchat
— social system
Portuguese:
matriarcado
— social system
Romanian:
matriarhat
— social system
Russian:
матриарха́т
(matriarxát)
— social system
Spanish:
matriarcado
— social system
Swedish:
matriarkat
— social system
Thai:
มาตาธิปไตย
(maa-dtaa-tí-bpà-dtai)
— social system
Turkish:
anaerki
— social system
Czech:
matriarchát
— system of government
Esperanto:
matriarĥeco
— system of government
Esperanto:
matriarkeco
— system of government
Finnish:
matriarkia
— system of government
Finnish:
naisvalta
— system of government
Galician:
matriarcado
— system of government
Greek:
μητριαρχία
(mitriarchía)
— system of government
Hindi:
मातृसत्ता
(mātŕsattā)
— system of government
Kazakh:
матриархат
(matriarxat)
— system of government
Kyrgyz:
энебийлик
(enebiylik)
— system of government
Polish:
matriarchat
— system of government
Portuguese:
matriarcado
— system of government
Romanian:
matriarhat
— system of government
Russian:
матриарха́т
(matriarxát)
— system of government
Spanish:
matriarcado
— system of government
Thai:
มาตาธิปไตย
(maa-dtaa-tí-bpà-dtai)
— system of government
Ukrainian:
матріарха́т
(matriarxát)
— system of government
