patriarchal

[ pey-tree-ahr-kuhl ]
See synonyms for patriarchal on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of or relating to a patriarch, the male head of a family, tribe, community, church, order, etc.: my father's conservative, patriarchal ways.

  2. characteristic of an entity, family, church, etc., controlled by men: a patriarchal church in which women are not allowed to hold leadership roles.

Origin of patriarchal

1
First recorded in 1425–75; from Late Latin patriarchālis, equivalent to patriarch(a) patriarch + Latin -ālis -al1
  • Sometimes pa·tri·ar·chic, pa·tri·ar·chi·cal .

Other words from patriarchal

  • pa·tri·ar·chal·ly, pa·tri·ar·chi·cal·ly, adverb
  • an·ti·pa·tri·ar·chal, adjective
  • an·ti·pa·tri·ar·chal·ly, adverb
  • qua·si-pa·tri·ar·chal, adjective
  • un·pa·tri·ar·chal, adjective
  • un·pa·tri·ar·chal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby patriarchal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use patriarchal in a sentence