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patriarchy

/ˈpejtɹiɑɹki/ noun

Latin root: patriarchia Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about patriarchy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  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.
  2. A power structure in which men are dominant.
  3. The office of a patriarch; a patriarchate.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)