Coined by Riane Eisler in The Chalice and the Blade (1987):
To describe the real alternative to a system based on the ranking of half of humanity over the other, I propose the new term gylany.
Gyderives from the Greek root wordgyne, or "woman."Anderives fromandros, or "man." The letterlbetween the two has a double meaning. In English, it stands for the linking of both halves of humanity, rather than, as in androcracy, their ranking. In Greek, it derives from the verblyeinorlyo, which in turn has a double meaning: to solve or resolve (as inanalysis) and to dissolve or set free (as incatalysis). In this sense, the letterlstands for the resolution of our problems through the freeing of both halves of humanity from the stultifying and distorting rigidity of roles imposed by the domination hierarchies inherent in androcratic systems.