Link Centre Dictionary

matriarch

mat·riarch

UK/ˈmeɪtɹɪˌɑːk/ US/ˈmeɪtɹiɑɹk/ rare

noun

1.

a female head of a family or tribe

Synonyms
2.

a feisty older woman with a big bosom (as drawn in cartoons)

Origin

Of Latin origin, via or reinforced by Old French matriarche, from Latin māter (“mother”) + -archa, -arches, from Ancient Greek -άρχης (-árkhēs), from ἀρχός (arkhós, “chief”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”). By surface analysis, matri- + -arch.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.