agnate
a relative whose connection is traceable exclusively through males.
any male relation on the father's side.
related or akin through males or on the father's side.
allied or akin.
Origin of agnate
1Other words from agnate
- ag·nat·ic [ag-nat-ik], /ægˈnæt ɪk/, ag·nat·i·cal, adjective
- ag·nat·i·cal·ly, adverb
- ag·na·tion [ag-ney-shuhn], /ægˈneɪ ʃən/, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use agnate in a sentence
The importance they attached to the agnatic family is largely explained by their ideas of the future life.
The Private Life of the Romans | Harold Whetstone JohnstonAs they understood it, the pater familis had absolute power over his children and other agnatic descendants.
The Private Life of the Romans | Harold Whetstone JohnstonThe former case offends against the principle of agnatic organisation, the latter against the cognatic.
The Heroic Age | H. Munro ChadwickThis practical limitation of the inheritance to the nearest gentile kin discloses the germ of agnatic inheritance.
Ancient Society | Lewis Henry MorganIt shows that property was hereditary in the gens, but restricted to the agnatic kindred in the female line.
Ancient Society | Lewis Henry Morgan
British Dictionary definitions for agnate
/ (ˈæɡneɪt) /
related by descent from a common male ancestor
related in any way; cognate
a male or female descendant by male links from a common male ancestor
Origin of agnate
1Derived forms of agnate
- agnatic (æɡˈnætɪk), adjective
- agnation, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse