Other forms: matriarchs
A matriarch is the powerful grandmother who rules the whole family. The family matriarch, an elderly matriarch, matriarch of the clan.
The word carries real authority rather than mere seniority. In elephants the matriarch is the oldest female and leads the herd, and her memory of distant water in a drought decides whether the group survives — which is one of the best-studied cases of leadership in animals. Note that the word is mother plus ruler.
1nounmatriarchThe powerful older woman who leads a family.
“Grandma is the matriarch of our family, and nobody makes a big decision without her.”
matriarch is a family head.
Latin mater, mother, plus a Greek ending meaning ruler. It was formed on the pattern of patriarch.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂ergʰ- — to begin, rule, command
Ancient Greek
-άρχης
Latin
māter — mother
Old French
matriarche
English, today
matriarch
Built from
Of Latin origin, via or reinforced by Old French matriarche, from Latin māter (“mother”) + -archa, -arches, from Ancient Greek -άρχης, from ἀρχός (“chief”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”). by surface analysis, matri- + -arch.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA