| 释义 |
matrilineal descent matrilineal descent or uterine descent (ANTHROPOLOGY) a UNILINEAL system of tracing DESCENT through females. This form of descent does not necessarily mean that women hold political or economic power; such a system would be called a MATRIARCHY. Early Victorian anthropologists suggested that this was the original form of descent, but it now appears that there is no evidence for this. The opposite is PATRILINEAL DESCENT. |