patriarchal Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line
  2. adjective relating to or characteristic of a man who is older or higher in rank

WordNet

Pa`tri*ar"chal adjective
Etymology
Cf. F. patriarcal.
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to a patriarch or to patriarchs; possessed by, or subject to, patriarchs; as, patriarchal authority or jurisdiction; a patriarchal see; a patriarchal church.
  2. Characteristic of a patriarch; venerable.
    About whose patriarchal knee Late the little children clung. Tennyson.
  3. (Ethnol.) Having an organization of society and government in which the head of the family exercises authority over all its generations.

Webster 1913