matrifocal
Jun. 11th, 2014 07:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordmatrifocal (ma-truh-FOH-kuhl, may-truh-FOH-kuhl) - adj., of, pertaining to, or designating a family unit headed by the mother.
Typically lacking a father either permanently or for extended periods. This is common in contemporary urban poor worldwide -- families where the woman and her relationships with her children and her female kin form the core. Not to be confused with matrilocal (where married couples reside with or near the woman's parents), matrilineal (where descent is tracked primarily through the mother), and matriarchy (if women have power in the community, they often are the focus of the family, but the reverse is not necessarily true). Coined in the 1950s from Latin roots matri- (from māter, mother) + focal (from focālis, from focus, fireplace/hearth).
---L.
Typically lacking a father either permanently or for extended periods. This is common in contemporary urban poor worldwide -- families where the woman and her relationships with her children and her female kin form the core. Not to be confused with matrilocal (where married couples reside with or near the woman's parents), matrilineal (where descent is tracked primarily through the mother), and matriarchy (if women have power in the community, they often are the focus of the family, but the reverse is not necessarily true). Coined in the 1950s from Latin roots matri- (from māter, mother) + focal (from focālis, from focus, fireplace/hearth).
---L.
