gynarchy \JIN-er-kee, GAHY-ner-, JAHY-ner-\,
noun:
government by women.
They—for it is a triplicate Gynarchy—still rule over a very large portion of territory and enjoy a subsidy from the government...
-- George Alexander Lethbridge Banbury, "Sierra Leone: or, The White Man's Grave," 1888
"But I have heard of—of gynarchy, I believe they call it." "You mean petticoat government?" "Yes."
-- edited by D. L. Cease, "Her Bright Smile," The Railroad Trainman's Journal, 1894
Gynarchy entered English in the late 1500s from the Greek gyne + -arkhe literally meaning "woman rule."
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