Patriarchy
Etymology
From Greek "patriarkhes" (ruler of a family or tribe), from "patria" (family, lineage — from "pater," father) and "arkhein" (to rule). It began as a title for a senior bishop or a biblical family head, and only in the modern era, through anthropology and feminist theory, did it come to name a whole system of male-dominated social organization.
noun · /PAY-tree-ar-kee/
A social system in which men hold most of the power and authority.
What it names
A handle for the structural, not merely individual, way power has been organized around men — the pattern behind particular inequalities.
Example
She argued that the pay gap was less about individual bias than about a patriarchy baked into who gets promoted.
Related idea
A hierarchy is any ranked ordering of people; patriarchy names one particular ranking — social power organized around men.