The term 'matrilocal' residence means:

The correct answer is Option (3) → The practice where women after marriage remain in their natal home with their children and the husbands may come to stay with them.

Option (1) The practice where men after marriage remain in their natal home and their wives may come to stay with them. — Incorrect. This turns the arrangement round: here the man stays in his natal home and the wife moves. Matrilocal residence is about the woman staying in hers.

Option (2) The practice where men-women after marriage does not stay with their families and move to a new home. — Incorrect. In matrilocal residence the couple does not set up a new home; the wife stays where she was born.

Option (3) The practice where women after marriage remain in their natal home with their children and the husbands may come to stay with them. — Correct. This is the meaning of matrilocal residence: the wife and children live in her natal home, and the husband may come to stay there. The Arab Muslim traders who settled on the Malabar coast adopted this local custom along with matriliny.

Option (4) The practice where women after marriage move to the natal home of their husbands and their children stays with their parents. — Incorrect. Here the woman leaves her natal home, which is the very opposite of matrilocal residence.