Virilocal

Virilocality, or virilocal residence, is a post-marital residence pattern in which a married couple resides with or near the husband’s family, typically within the husband’s household or village. The term comes from Latin roots, with vir meaning man, and localis meaning of place. In anthropological use, virilocality describes where the couple establishes residence after marriage rather than at the wife’s birth home.

Virilocal residence is commonly associated with patrilineal and patrilocal social structures, where lineage and inheritance are traced through the male line. In such systems, living with or near the husband’s kin helps maintain paternal kin ties and can facilitate the transmission of property, status, and social obligations within the male lineage. Marriage arrangements such as bridewealth or dowry may reinforce or reflect virilocal expectations. The move can alter women’s social networks, economic opportunities, and support systems, producing diverse effects on women’s autonomy and status depending on the broader cultural context.

Virilocality is one possible post-marital residence among several patterns. It contrasts with matrilocal (residence with the wife’s family), neolocal (a new, independent residence), avunculocal (with the mother’s brother’s household), and ambilocal/bilocal options that allow choice. Some societies combine residence rules with other kinship practices, and virilocality may vary within regions or over time.

In scholarly work, virilocality is analyzed to understand how residence patterns influence kinship, alliance, inheritance, and gender roles within a culture.