Dower
/ˈdaʊ.əɹ/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The part of or interest in a deceased husband's property provided to his widow, usually in the form of a life estate.
- 2 Alternative spelling of dougher. alt-of, alternative
- 3 a life estate to which a wife is entitled on the death of her husband wordnet
- 4 Property given by a groom to his bride or her family, at or before their wedding, in order to legitimize the marriage
"[…] how features are abroad, / I am skill-less of; but, by my modesty,— / The jewel in my dower,—I would not wish / Any companion in the world but you […]"
- 5 money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift. obsolete
"How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower!"
Verb
- 1 To give a dower or dowry to. transitive
"He had married a lady well educated and softly nurtured, but not dowered with worldly wealth."
- 2 furnish with an endowment wordnet
- 3 To endow. transitive
"It was nothing of this earth, but a piece of the great outside; and as such dowered with outside properties and obedient to outside laws."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Beauty carries its dower in its face."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English dower, dowere, from Old French doeire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dowry.
Etymology 2
From Middle English dower, equivalent to dough + -er