View synonyms for materfamilias

materfamilias

[ mey-ter-fuh-mil-ee-uhs ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

materfamilias

/ ˌmeɪtəfəˈmɪlɪˌæs /

First recorded in 1750–60; from Latin; paterfamilias

C18: from Latin

The door opened at last, and Paterfamilias entered with Materfamilias (whose headache was better), and followed by the candles.

Its chief importance is the prominence given to the materfamilias.

Materfamilias complacently remarks on the manifest superiority of the article they have purchased, to "that red rubbish."

And I, being vain (turn some people out of a room and you don't humble them properly), retort with—'materfamilias!'

Beyond doubt the position of the Roman materfamilias was a much more dignified one than that of the Greek wife.

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