Definition of Matrilineal

1. Adjective. Based on or tracing descent through the female line. "Matrilineal inheritance"

Exact synonyms: Matrilinear
Similar to: Direct, Lineal

Definition of Matrilineal

1. Adjective. Tracing descent only through female lines. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Matrilineal

1. [adj]

Medical Definition of Matrilineal

1. Denoting descent through the female line. Origin: L. Mater, mother, + linea, line (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Matrilineal

matriculants
matriculate
matriculated
matriculates
matriculating
matriculation
matriculations
matriculator
matriculators
matrifocal
matrifocality
matrikin
matrilateral
matrilineage
matrilineal (current term)
matrilineal kin
matrilineal sib
matrilineality
matrilineally
matrilinear
matrilines
matrilocal
matrilocality
matrilysin
matrimoieties
matrimoiety
matrimoine
matrimonial law

Literary usage of Matrilineal

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Primitive Society by Robert Harry Lowie (1920)
"There are some tribes in which, say, avuncular authority is linked with matrilineal descent, and from the point of view of abstract logic this seems in ..."

2. Primitive Paternity: The Myth of Supernatural Birth in Relation to the by Edwin Sidney Hartland (1910)
"In the lower culture jealousy operates only feebly or within limits. Examination of cases among matrilineal peoples. Survival of matrilineal freedom into ..."

3. Primitive Society: The Beginnings of the Family & the Reckoning of Descent by Edwin Sidney Hartland (1921)
"These are matrilineal. Can it be contended that they have been borrowed by the Mohammedan tribes from matrilineal neighbours ? Can they, in fact, ..."

4. Sissano: Movements of Migration Within and Through Melanesia by William Churchill (1916)
"It is in this matrilineal region that the resemblance between the secret ritual of the Tamate societies and the open culture of the Solomons comes out most ..."

5. Land, Trees, and Women: Evolution of Land Tenure Institutions in Western by Ma Agnes R Quisumbing (2001)
"In particular, matrilineal systems have been criticized because they do not ... In matrilineal communities of Sumatra, cultivated land was traditionally ..."

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