matrilineal
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of matrilineal
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Explanation
Matrilineal refers to familial relationships that can be traced through a female. To follow the matrilineal line in your family, start with your mom. In Latin, matri- refers to the mother, just as patri- refers to the father. Lineal is a word that refers to someone's lineage, or the line of people that came before that person; so the adjective matrilineal describes anything related to kinship through a female line. If the children in your culture take their mother's last name, and not their father's, this is a matrilineal tradition.
Vocabulary lists containing matrilineal
Content Summary 3.5: Saharan Trade and the Spread of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
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Chapters 15–16
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I also come from a matrilineal tribe, similar to Kerala, and my feminism informed my approach to the role."
From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026
Knowles debunks her reputation as a stage mom, though she carried on her matrilineal penchant for designing and sewing clothes, as the stylist for Destiny’s Child.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2025
It is an amazing story that was too big for the film, of firsthand knowledge that has been passed down in a matrilineal way.
From Salon • Jan. 9, 2025
The researchers conclude that the Eberdingen-Hochdorf man’s sister was most likely the mother of the man in Asperg-Grafenbuhl—an arrangement known as matrilineal avuncularity.
From Science Magazine • Jun. 3, 2024
I'm not even Jewish, technically, because Judaism is matrilineal, and my mom's Episcopalian.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
