agnatos

Agnatos, in kinship and legal terminology, refers to individuals who are related through the male line to a common ancestor. The term is used to describe agnatic kin, or the agnatic descent group, emphasizing patrilineal connections rather than connections traced through females. In this sense, agnatos are the male-line relatives of a given ancestor, and the group can include male and, in some usages, female descendants who remain within the same patrilineal line.

Etymology-wise, the concept comes from Latin agnatus, meaning born or related, and the modern term agnatic derives from this root. In English, agnates or agnatic kin are contrasted with cognates (relatives connected through any line of descent, including the female line) and with uterine or collateral kin (brothers, cousins not connected through the direct male line).

In anthropology and law, agnatic descent is central to patrilineal systems of inheritance and succession. In societies or legal regimes that follow agnatic succession, inheritance typically passes through male relatives in the paternal line, often prioritizing the father, paternal uncles, and their male descendants. This contrasts with cognatic or bilateral systems, where inheritance can flow through both paternal and maternal lines and through both sexes.

Agnatos can be identified through genealogical records and kinship charts that trace ancestry along the male line. The concept remains a foundational term in discussions of traditional kinship, lineage organization, and historical succession rules, even as many modern systems move toward more flexible or gender-neutral frameworks.