noun · irregular · rare

matriarch

matriarch · matriarchs

матріарх

матриарх, родоначальница

Matriarchin

A female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious groupA female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group.

ⓘ

UK/ˈmeɪtɹɪˌɑːk/US/ˈmeɪtɹiɑɹk/

» Jews have three patriarchs and four matriarchs.

Meaning

4 senses

A female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group.
Matriarchin
родонача́льницаrodonačálʹnica, матриа́рхmatriárx
матріархmatriárx
a female head of a family or tribe
A female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group.
The dominant female in a family group of elephants.
(Northern England)A strong and domineering older woman; a battle axe.
a feisty older woman with a big bosom (as drawn in cartoons)
A female founder of a political or religious movement, an organization or an enterprise.

Examples

5 sentences

Jews have three patriarchs and four matriarchs.
CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · rul · C2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Mary was the matriarch of the family who lived on the farm for five generations.
deMaria war die Matriarchin der Familie, die in fünf Generationen auf dem Gehöft lebte. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · Hybrid · C2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Mary was the matriarch of the family who lived on the homestead for five generations.
deMaria war die Matriarchin der Familie, die in fünf Generationen auf dem Gehöft lebte. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · Hybrid · C2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Great-Grandma is the undisputed matriarch of our family.
ruПрабабушка - бесспорный матриарх нашей семьи. — soniamiku
deMeine Urgroßmutter ist das unangefochtene Oberhaupt unserer Familie. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · Vanilla · C2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
The Jewish people has three patriarchs and four matriarchs.
CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · rul · C2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem

Translations

8 languages

Українська

By meaning 1

a female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group:

Русский

By meaning 1

a female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group:

Deutsch

By meaning 1

a female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group:

Origin

Of Latin origin, via or reinforced by Old French matriarche, from Latin māter (“mother”) +

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.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source