Quick Definition
πατριά, ᾶς, ἡ n.f. a family, tribe
Strong's Definition
as if feminine of a derivative of 3962; paternal descent, i.e. (concretely) a group of families or a whole race (nation)
KJV Usage: family, kindred, lineage
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ᾶς | πατήρ
10.24 · Kinship Terms · Kinship Relations Involving Successive Generations
lineage, family line persons of successive generations who are related by birth In biblical times the reckoning of a lineage was somewhat complex in view of certain distinctions between legal and biological relations. The focus of meaning in γένεσις[b], οἶκος[c], and πατριά[a] is not, however, the list of ancestors, but the lineage of successively related persons to which the reference person belongs. Some scholars, however, interpret γένεσις[c] history, 33.19).
In some languages a successive series of ancestors is called ‘the forefathers’ or ‘those to whom one looks back’ or ‘those who have gone ahead.’ In other languages a lineage is referred to as ‘a person’s root’ or ‘a man’s trunk’ (referring to the trunk of a tree).
In LUK 2:4 there appears to be no significant difference in meaning between οἶκος and πατριά, and in some receptor languages it would be sufficient to use a single term essentially equivalent to ‘lineage.’ The two terms appear to simply reinforce their shared meaning.
11.56 · Groups and Classes of Persons and Members of Such Groups and Classes · Socio-Political
nation, people a relatively large unit of people who constitute a sociopolitical group, sharing a presumed biological descent (in many contexts πατριά[b] and φυλή[b] are very similar in meaning to ἔθνος and λαός[a], 11.55)
1 πατριά[a] and φυλή[b] nation, people (11.56) focus attention upon a particular people as a socially functioning unit, while the feature of biological descent is largely secondary. But in the case of γένος[b] and σάρξ[e], the feature of biological descent is focal, while group functioning is largely secondary.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
πατριά, -as, ἡ, (fr. πατήρ) ; 1. lineage running back to some progenitor, ancestry: Hat. 2,143; 3, 75. 2. a race or tribe, i.e. a group of families, all those who in a given people lay claim to a common origin: εἰσὶ αὐτέων (Βαβυλωνίων) πατριαὶ τρεῖς, Hdt. 1, 200. The Israelites were distributed into (twelve) nivn, φυλαί, tribes, descended from the twelve sons of Jacob; these were divided into ninawn, πατριαί, deriving their descent from the several sons of Jacob’s sons; and these in turn were divided into NjINT M3, οἶκοι, houses (or families) ; cf. Gesenius, Thes. i. p. 193; iii. p. 1463; Win. RWB. s. v. Stiimme; [Kei/, Archaeol. § 140]; hence ἐξ οἴκου καὶ πατριᾶς Δαυΐδ, i. 6. belonging not only to the same ‘house’ (πατριά) as David, but to the very ‘family ’ of David, descended from David himself, Lk. ii. 4 (αὗται ai πατριαὶ τῶν υἱῶν Συμεών, Ex. vi. 15 ; 6 ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς Μανασσῆς τῆς φυλῆς αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς πατριᾶς αὐτῆς, Judith viii. 2; τῶν φυλῶν κατὰ πατριὰς αὐτῶν, Num. i. 16; οἶκοι πατριῶν, Ex. xii. 3; Num. i. 2, and often; add, Joseph. antt. 6, 4, 1; 1 ΤΡ Ύ 8Σ 1G): 3. family in a wider sense, i. q. nation, people: Acts iii. 25 (1 Chr. xvi. 28: Ps. xxi (xxii.) 28) ; πᾶσα πατριὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς (i. e. every order of angels) καὶ ἐτὶ γῆς, Eph. iii. 15.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
πατριά patria 3x
descent, lineage; a family, tribe, race, Lk. 2:4; Acts 3:25; Eph. 3:15*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
πατριά, -ᾶς, ἡ
(< πατήρ), [in LXX chiefly for אָב, Ex 6:14, al., also for מִשְׁפָּחָה, Ex 6:15, II Ki 14:7, Ps 21 (22):27, al.;]
lineage, ancestry (Hdt.).
= πάτρα (more common in cl.), a family or tribe (so sometimes in Hdt., in LXX of related people, in a sense narrower than φυλή and wider than οἶκος; v. Ex 12:3, Nu 32:28): Lk 2:4; in a wider sense (I Ch 16:28, Ps 21 (22):27), Ac 3:25(LXX), Eph 3:15.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
πατριά in Eph 315 is used, as often in the LXX (Gen 123 a/.), of a group of persons united by descent from a common fathe or ancestor: hence the Lat. rendering fafernztas in the collective sense of that word. Herwerden s.v. refers to a Delphic inscr. of v/B.c., where πατριαί are ‘‘genera, sive familiae, quibus phratria constat.” The adv. πατριαστί, “᾿ according to paternal descent,” occurs in P Hal 1. 1248 (mid. iii/B.c.); cf. Syl/ 614 (= %1023)%3 (c. B.C. 200) ἀπογραφέσϑων . . . ἐν τριμήνωι τὸ ὄνομα πατριαστὶ ποτὶ τὸς ναποίας, where Herwerden (Zex. s.v.) understands πατριαστί rather in the sense or ‘‘addito nomine gentili.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
πατριά (patria) — family line. πατρι-ά, Ionic dialect πατρ-ιή, ἡ, (πατήρ) lineage, descent, especially by the father's side, ἐγενεηλόγησε τὴν π. τὴν Κύρου [NT+5th c.BC+]
II. ={πάτρα} [Refs]clan, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. family, [LXX+NT]
III. in plural, = patrum officia, [Refs 4th c.AD+]