Word.ws English Dictionary

kyriarchy

Syllables: ky·ri·ar·chy/ˈkaɪɹɪˌɑːki/US/ˈkaɪɹiˌɑɹki/

kyriarchy noun: a system of ruling and oppression in which many people may interact and act as oppressor or oppressed.

Noun

kyriarchy (usually uncountable, plural kyriarchies)

  1. (usually) A system of ruling and oppression in which many people may interact and act as oppressor or oppressed.
    • [F]eminist theologies must adopt a social analytic that can break through the sex/gender system's totalizing and mystifying dualistic frame of reference. An analytic of kyriarchy rather than simply an analytic of gender, I argued, provides a more adequate conceptual tool of analysis.1994, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, “And Mary Went into the Hill Country: Issues in Feminist Christology”, in Jesus: Miriam’s Child, Sophia’s Prophet: Critical Issues in Feminist Christology, London...
    • The idea of kyriarchy or kyriocentrism acknowledges the complex interstructures of domination that include sexist practices and social arrangements but contextualizes and situates them within a wider scope of oppression.1995, Marsha Aileen Hewitt, Critical Theory of Religion: A Feminist Analysis, Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, →ISBN, page 167

Forms of kyriarchy

pluralkyriarchies

Origin of kyriarchy

From Ancient Greek κύριος (kúrios, “lord, master”) + -archy (“rule of”), modelled after German Herrschaft (“lordship; dominion, reign”) and expanding on patriarchy. Coined by Romanian-born German-American feminist theologian Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in 1992.

Words formed from kyriarchy

Questions about kyriarchy

What does kyriarchy mean?
Kyriarchy means a system of ruling and oppression in which many people may interact and act as oppressor or oppressed.
What part of speech is kyriarchy?
Kyriarchy is a noun.
How do you pronounce kyriarchy?
Kyriarchy is pronounced /ˈkaɪɹɪˌɑːki/ (UK).
What is the plural of kyriarchy?
The plural of kyriarchy is kyriarchies.

Words near kyriarchy in the dictionary

  1. kyriarchal
  2. kyriarchally
  3. kyriarchic
  4. kyriarchically
  5. kyriarchies
  6. kyriarchy
  7. kyrie
  8. kyrielle
  9. kyrielles
  10. kyries
  11. kyriocentric

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kyriarchy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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