Word.ws English Dictionary

patrilinear

patrilinear is the alternative form of patrilineal.

Meaning of patrilineal

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

Origin of patrilinear

From patri- + linear.

Questions about patrilinear

What is patrilinear the alternative form of?
Patrilinear is the alternative form of patrilineal.

Words near patrilinear in the dictionary

  1. patrilineal lineage
  2. patrilinealism
  3. patrilinealities
  4. patrilineality
  5. patrilineally
  6. patrilinear
  7. patrilinearity
  8. patrilinearly
  9. patrilineate
  10. patrilines
  11. patrilinial

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: patrilinear (page history and authors); 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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Cite this entry: “patrilinear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/patrilinear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.