548: matriarch and patriarch Jun 8, 2016

Matriarch rather logically, comes from the word for mother as she is the head of her household or other group. The word was formed from association with 'patriarch' who is the male head of his household or other group. Semantically there is a connection etymologically there is not. As said before, 'matriarch' comes from 'mater', Latin for 'mother' but patriarch does not come from the word for father. 'Matriarch' was created in the 17th century on a pattern that does not really exist, since 'patriarch' comes from the Greek 'patria' meaning 'family' and 'arkēs' meaning 'ruling'.