/may"tree ahr'kee/ , n. , pl. matriarchies .
1. a family, society, community, or state governed by women.
2. a form of social organization in which the mother is head of the family, and in which descent is reckoned in the female line, the children belonging to the mother's clan; matriarchal system.
[ 1880-85; MATRI- + -ARCHY ]