Matriarchy
/ˈmeɪ.tri.ɑːr.ki/noun
A social system or community in which women, especially mothers, hold primary power or authority.
Did you know?The modern concept was powerfully shaped by Johann Jakob Bachofen’s 1861 theory of ancient “mother-right,” though archaeologists caution that evidence for universal prehistoric matriarchy is lacking.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*méh₂tēr
“Mother; the ancestral word behind family terms across Indo-European languages.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
mḗtēr (μήτηρ)
“Mother; the Greek form descended from the Indo-European root.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
arkhḗ (ἀρχή)
“Beginning, first principle, rule, or authority; the source of the combining form -archy.”
Latin
Latin
māter
“Mother; the Latin form that supplied the matri- element.”
19th Century
German/English
Mutterrecht / matriarchy
“Bachofen’s 1861 term Mutterrecht, “mother-right,” helped establish the modern scholarly idea later expressed in English as matriarchy.”
Late 19th Century
English
matriarchy
“A social order understood as rule or authority centered on women or mothers.”