Matrilineal
/ˌmætrɪˈlɪniəl/noun
Tracing descent, inheritance, or kinship through the mother's line.
Did you know?Matrilineal is built from Latin mater, “mother,” plus linea, “line,” so the word itself encodes a lineage system—proof that language can preserve who society chose to remember.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*méh₂tēr
“mother”
Latin
Latin
māter
“mother”
Latin
Latin
linea
“linen thread; line”
Late Latin / Modern scientific formation
Latin
matrilinealis
“pertaining to the mother's line”
Late 19th Century
English
matrilineal
“descent traced through the mother”