patriarchy

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

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪt͡ʃɹiɑɹki/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪtɹiɑːki/, /ˈpætɹiɑːki/

• Audio (Berkshire)

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patriarchy (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.

• cisheteropatriarchy
• heteropatriarchy
• neopatriarchy

• patriarch
• patriarchate
• patriarchal

• matriarchy