matriarchn.
/ˈmeɪtrɪɑːk/, U.S. /ˈmeɪtriˌɑrk/ A woman who is the head of a family, household, or tribe; a woman having the status corresponding to that of a patriarch; a venerable old woman. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbess > [noun]
abbotesseOE
mothereOE
dame?c1225
abbessc1300
matriarch1606
maternity1693
domina1751
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinship group > family > [noun] > family or household > female head
lady of the housec1330
matriarch1606
housemother1822
materfamilias1861
mum1957
1606 W. Birnie Blame of Kirk-buriall Ded. sig. B2v Your Spouse now the yong fruteful Matriarch of that multi-potent Marquesad.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1958) IX. 121 The learnedest Nun, and the best Matriarch, and Mother of that [sc. the Roman] Church, I think, that ever writ, Heloyssa.
1837 R. Southey Doctor IV. 158 Dr. Southey has classed this injured Matriarch [sc. Job's wife] in a triad with Xantippe and Mrs. Wesley.
1883 J. W. Hales in Athenæum 24 Feb. 248 I believe this gentleman [sc. Father Hubbard] to be an after~thought—to be a mere weak masculine reflex of the matriarch.
1893 Harper's Weekly 7 Jan. 11/1 Miss Flora McFlimsey, who nowadays must be a matriarch of some thirty-five seasons' standing.
1934 W. Lewis Men without Art ii. v. 168 We have been invited..to instal ourselves in a very dim Venusberg indeed; but Venus has become an introverted matriarch.
1964 L. Woolf Beginning Again ii. 112 Mrs. Eckhard was one of those immensely energetic, dominating Jewish matriarchs who amuse me.
1988 Nature 11 Aug. 480/2 Elephants are highly social animals. They live in close-knit family groups led by an experienced female or ‘matriarch’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1606