matriarchate

[ mey-tree-ahr-kit, -keyt ]

noun
  1. a matriarchal system or community.

  2. a social order formerly believed to have preceded patriarchal tribal society in the early period of human communal life, embodying rule by the mothers, or by all adult women.

Origin of matriarchate

1
First recorded in 1880–85; matriarch + -ate3

Words Nearby matriarchate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use matriarchate in a sentence

  • Another myth depicts the fall of the matriarchate in the following manner: During the rule of Cecrops, a double miracle occurred.

    Woman and Socialism | August Bebel
  • Thus the matriarchate was evolved that for a long time constituted the foundation of family relations and inheritance.

    Woman and Socialism | August Bebel
  • We have already shown that this right of the first night was a custom which had its origin in the time of the matriarchate.

    Woman and Socialism | August Bebel
  • Even in modern Germany remnants of the matriarchate survive.

    Woman and Socialism | August Bebel
  • The matriarchate disappeared and the patriarchate took its place.

    Woman and Socialism | August Bebel

British Dictionary definitions for matriarchate

matriarchate

/ (ˈmeɪtrɪˌɑːkɪt, -keɪt) /


noun
  1. rare a family or people under female domination or government

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