Words: Marriage Settlement

Last evening I came across some words I’d not encountered before. This is not surprising as they are all anthropological in usage, and I’m not an anthropologist. Neither is our society one to which, in general, they apply. So a little investigation was needed for me to bring you four new words …
Uxorilocal
Applied to or denoting residence after marriage in the area of the wife’s home, community, tribe or family.
Derived from the Latin ūxor, wife. the recorded first usage is in 1936.
This is very similar to …
Matrilocal
1. Designating or relating to a custom of marriage by which the married couple settles in the wife’s home or community.
2. (In zoology) Of or relating to the tendency of males to leave their natal group and reside in or mate with females of a different group.

The first recorded usage is in 1906.


And contrast with …
Virilocal
Pertaining to or designating a woman’s residence after marriage with the husband’s family or tribe.
Derived from the Latin virī-lis, virile. First usage in 1948.
Which again is effectively cognate with …
Patrilocal
Designating or relating to a custom of marriage by which the married couple settles in the husband’s home or community.
First usage again in 1906.