patrilineal
/patɹɪˈlɪnɪəl/adjective
patrilineal is spelled P-A-T-R-I-L-I-N-E-A-L: 11 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, patrilineal means “Pertaining to descent through male lines” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in patrilineal?
| Letters | 11: P-A-T-R-I-L-I-N-E-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 82,325th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is patrilineal?
Patrilineal appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce patrilineal?
- UK /patɹɪˈlɪnɪəl/
Patrilineal has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-patrilineal.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does patrilineal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to descent through male lines.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Patrilineal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | patrilineal |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does patrilineal come from?
From patri- + lineal. Coined by British government anthropologist Northcote Whitridge Thomas in 1904 along with matrilineal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).