matriarch

[mey-tree-ahrk]

noun

1. the female head of a family or tribal line.

2. a woman who is the founder or dominant member of a community or group.

3. a venerable old woman.

matriarch

/ ˈmeɪtrɪˌɑːk /

noun

1. a woman who dominates an organization, community, etc

2. the female head of a tribe or family, esp in a matriarchy

3. a very old or venerable woman

Other Word Forms

• matriarchal adjective
• matriarchic adjective
• matriarchalism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of matriarch¹

First recorded in 1600–10; matri- + -arch

Word History and Origins

Origin of matriarch¹

C17: from _matri- + _-arch , by false analogy with _patriarch

Example Sentences

The writer lived and worked in her childhood home in Jackson, Miss.—tending to her camellias, doting on her nieces and quietly presiding for many years as the matriarch of Southern letters.

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Roberts, meanwhile, was the show’s matriarch on- and off-screen, known for making pots of soup in her dressing room and looking out for the cast.

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When the show launched its North American tour in September, Taub stepped away from the role of suffragist and movement leader Alice Paul, but not from her proud perch as the musical’s matriarch.

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Most days he could be found there at lunchtime, eating the homemade Armenian food of matriarch Mariam Barbar, who founded the shop in Los Angeles after the family fled the Lebanese civil war.

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In 2018, family matriarch Kris Jenner insisted that the property was worth $60 million while responding to a post about the dwelling on X.

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Related Words

• matron