# patriarchal vs patriarchy

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### patriarchal
*adjective · IPA /ˌpeɪtɹiˈɑɹkl̩/ · frequency rank #21,311*
Characteristic of a patriarch; venerable.

### patriarchy
*noun · IPA /ˈpejtɹiɑɹki/ · frequency rank #24,857*
A social system in which the father is head of the household, having authority over women and children, and in which lineage is traced through the male line.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/patriarchal-vs-patriarchy