Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. ... In a matrilineal descent system, an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as their mother.
Explanation:
A person's lineage is his or her line of ancestors. So matrilineal means basically "through the mother's line", just as patrilineal means "through the father's line". Matrilineality is an important concept in anthropology; among other things, it usually determines who will inherit property on a person's death.
