Wiktionary

dower

See also: Dower

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English dower, dowere, from Old French doeire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dower (plural dowers)

  1. (law) The part of or interest in a deceased husband's property provided to his widow, usually in the form of a life estate.
  2. (law) Property given by a groom directly to his bride at or before their wedding in order to legitimize the marriage; dowry.
    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
      […] 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 […]
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 6:
      In New Bedford, fathers, they say, give whales for dowers to their daughters, and portion off their nieces with a few porpoises a-piece.
  3. (obsolete) That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.
    • c. 1600, John Davies, The Dignity of Man:
      How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower!
    • 1793, William Wordsworth, Descriptive Sketches:
      Man in his primeval dower arrayed.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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dower (third-person singular simple present dowers, present participle dowering, simple past and past participle dowered)

  1. (transitive) To give a dower or dowry to.
    • 1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:
      He had married a lady well educated and softly nurtured, but not dowered with worldly wealth.
  2. (transitive) To endow.
    • 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space:
      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.

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Old French doeire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium; equivalent to dowen +‎ -er. Doublet of dowarye.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /duːˈɛːr(ə)/, /ˈduːər(ə)/

Noun

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dower (plural dowers)

  1. A dower; a life estate of a male spouse's property.
  2. (rare) A gift given by the bride's family to the groom or his relatives; dowry.
  3. (rare, figurative) An intrinsic or inherent property or attribute.
  4. (rare, astrology) A portion of the world under the domination of a particular star sign.

Descendants

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  • English: dower
  • Scots: dower

References

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