PATRIARCHAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does patriarchal mean? 

• PATRIARCHAL (adjective)
  The adjective PATRIARCHAL has 2 senses:

1. characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line

2. relating to or characteristic of a man who is older or higher in rank

  Familiarity information: PATRIARCHAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PATRIARCHAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line

Similar:

patriarchic ((of societies) being ruled by or having descent traced through the male line)

patricentric (centered upon the father)

Also:

paternal (characteristic of a father)

Antonym:

matriarchal (characteristic of a matriarchy)

Derivation:

patriarch (the male head of family or tribe)

patriarchy (a form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Relating to or characteristic of a man who is older or higher in rank

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

patriarch (a man who is older and higher in rank than yourself)

Derivation:

patriarch (a man who is older and higher in rank than yourself)

 Context examples 

He would build a patriarchal grass house like Tati's, and have it and the valley and the schooner filled with dark-skinned servitors.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Both her cast of form and feature, her complexion and her general air, suggested the idea of some Israelitish princess of the patriarchal days; and such was doubtless the character she intended to represent.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The patriarchal lives of my protectors caused these impressions to take a firm hold on my mind; perhaps, if my first introduction to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with different sensations.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

They appeared to be terrified at the prospect of repeating it, but the chief has patriarchal powers in these countries, and if the bargain is good in his eyes the clansman has little choice in the matter.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)