PATRIARCHAL

patriarchal

(adjective) characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line

patriarchal

(adjective) relating to or characteristic of a man who is older or higher in rank

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

patriarchal (comparative more patriarchal, superlative most patriarchal)

Characteristic of a patriarch; venerable.

Relating to a system run by males, rather than females.

Synonyms

• patriarchial

• patriarchic

Coordinate terms

• matriarchal

Source: Wiktionary

Pa`tri*ar"chal, a. Etym: [Cf. F. patriarcal.]

1. Of or pertaining to a patriarch or to patriarchs; possessed by, or subject to, patriarchs; as, patriarchal authority or jurisdiction; a patriarchal see; a patriarchal church.

2. Characteristic of a patriarch; venerable. About whose patriarchal knee Late the little children clung. Tennyson.

3. (Ethnol.)

Definition: Having an organization of society and government in which the head of the family exercises authority over all its generations. Patriarchal cross (Her.), a cross, the shaft of which is intersected by two transverse beams, the upper one being the smaller. See Illust. (2) of Cross.

– Patriarchal dispensation, the divine dispensation under which the patriarchs lived before the law given by Moses.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition