The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
MATRIARCHY
Definition of MATRIARCHY
noun
A social system in which the mother is head of household, having authority over men and children, and lineage is traced through the female line.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Coined after patriarchy, from Latin māter (“mother”) and Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”). By surface analysis, matri- + -archy.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- Latin
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.2%
of traced words share this origin (9,700)
branch · 12.2% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, MATRIARCHY · 2 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
MATRIARCHY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 155, 22 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 155, 22 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
MATRIARCHY starts with M and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read AACHIMRRTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A and R appear more than once.
Words that start MATRIA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found MATRIARCHY?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 155 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER