Word.ws English Dictionary

matrilineal

/ˌmeɪtɹɪˈlɪnɪəl/

matrilineal adjective: tracing descent only through female ancestors.

Adjective

matrilineal (not comparable)

  1. Tracing descent only through female ancestors.
    • Kerala traditionally has matrilineal inheritance.
    • Enkidu expresses the values of nature, matrilineal conservatism, and the populism of the assembly, the assembly of village elders from the days before military dictatorship.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 191

matrilineal meaning in Malay

matrilineal in Malay

Tracing descent only through female ancestors
matrilineal

Antonyms of matrilineal

Origin of matrilineal

From matri- + lineal. Coined by British government anthropologist Northcote Whitridge Thomas in 1904 along with patrilineal.

Words formed from matrilineal

Questions about matrilineal

What does matrilineal mean?
Matrilineal means tracing descent only through female ancestors.
What is matrilineal in Malay?
Matrilineal in Malay is matrilineal. See Matrilineal meaning in Malay.
What part of speech is matrilineal?
Matrilineal is an adjective.
How do you pronounce matrilineal?
Matrilineal is pronounced /ˌmeɪtɹɪˈlɪnɪəl/.

Words near matrilineal in the dictionary

  1. matrilects
  2. matrilin
  3. matriline
  4. matrilineage
  5. matrilineages
  6. matrilineal
  7. matrilineal descent
  8. matrilineal line
  9. matrilineal lineage
  10. matrilinealism
  11. matrilineality

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: matrilineal (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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