Word.ws English Dictionary

patrilineal

/patɹɪˈlɪnɪəl/

patrilineal adjective: pertaining to descent through male lines.

Adjective

patrilineal (not comparable)

  1. Pertaining to descent through male lines.
    • The Xhosa are a proud and patrilineal people with an expressive and euphonious language and an abiding belief in the importance of laws, education and courtesy.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 4

Antonyms of patrilineal

Origin of patrilineal

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

Words formed from patrilineal

Questions about patrilineal

What does patrilineal mean?
Patrilineal means pertaining to descent through male lines.
What part of speech is patrilineal?
Patrilineal is an adjective.
How do you pronounce patrilineal?
Patrilineal is pronounced /patɹɪˈlɪnɪəl/ (UK).

Words near patrilineal in the dictionary

  1. patrilectal
  2. patrilects
  3. patriline
  4. patrilineage
  5. patrilineages
  6. patrilineal
  7. patrilineal descent
  8. patrilineal line
  9. patrilineal lineage
  10. patrilinealism
  11. patrilinealities

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: patrilineal (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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