matriarchal

/ˌmeɪtriˈɑrkəl/

You can describe your family as matriarchal if it is full of strong women, headed by your feisty grandmother. A group or society is matriarchal when it is run by women.

Anthropologists use the adjective matriarchal to talk about societies that are headed by females. The word comes from the Greek matēr, "mother," and archein, "to rule." The term matriarchal arose as a balance to the traditional patriarchal, male-ruled, concept of society, although feminists and anthropologists often use it to describe societies in which women have equal rights, as well as families or tribes headed by mothers or grandmothers.

Definitions of matriarchal

1. adjective

   characteristic of a matriarchy
   synonyms:

   maternal

   characteristic of a mother

   matriarchic

   (of societies or families) having a female as the family head or having descent traced through the female line

   matricentric

   centered upon the mother

   antonyms:

   patriarchal

   characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line

   paternal

   characteristic of a father

   patriarchic

   (of societies) being ruled by or having descent traced through the male line

   patricentric

   centered upon the father