patrilineal

American  

[pa-truh-lin-ee-uhl, pey-] / ˌpæ trəˈlɪn i əl, ˌpeɪ- /

adjective

1. inheriting or determining descent through the male line.

---

patrilineal British  

/ ˌpætrɪˈlɪnɪəl /

adjective

1. tracing descent, kinship, or title through the male line

---

patrilineal Cultural  

1. Tracing kinship and descent through the male line. (Compare matrilineal.)

---

Other Word Forms

• patrilineally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of patrilineal

First recorded in 1900–05; patri- + lineal

Compare meaning

How does patrilineal compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• matrilineal vs. patrilineal

Explanation

Something patrilineal is related to your relationship with your father, or to your family's line of male descendants — for example, your father, his father, his father's father, and so on. A genetic condition that spreads in a patrilineal way might be passed from your grandfather, through your dad, and finally to you. And through history, some monarchies have been patrilineal, meaning that when a king dies, only his son can succeed him (and not his daughter). Patrilineal adds the Latin prefix patri-, or "father," to lineal, from the Late Latin linealis, "relating to a line."

Example Sentences

Patrilineal descent may have been directly evolved without the intermediate stage of reckoning through females.

From Kinship Organisations and Group Marriage in Australia by Thomas, Northcote Whitridge

Related Words

• benevolent