Word of the Day Sunday, May 11, 2014 matrifocal \ ma-truh-FOH-kuhl, mey- \ , adjective; 1. focused or centered on the mother. 2. of, pertaining to, or designating a family unit or structure headed by the mother and lacking a father permanently or for extended periods. Quotes: The matrifocal family occupies a curious position in anthropological writings, sometimes seen as a definite family structure based on a cultural valuing and centrality of the mother, and sometimes as a temporary or ad hoc response to poverty and exclusion. -- Edited by Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spencer, The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology , 1996 Therefore, we are not talking about matriarchal families in which mothers head the household, but rather matrifocal societies than emphasize the mother-child bond. -- Venetria K. Patton, The Grasp That Reaches Beyond the Grave: The Ancestral Call in Black Womens Text , 2013 Origin: Matrifocal is a blend of the combining form of māter , Latin for mother, and focal , of or pertaining to a focus. It entered English in the mid-1900s in the context of cultural anthropology.
Posted on: Sun, 11 May 2014 12:07:36 +0000
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