dower

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈdaʊər/ UK /ˈdaʊə/ See IPA manual

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
the portion of an estate a widow receives, or a dowry

By law she retained her dower after her husband's death.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the portion of an estate a... dowry portion endowmentjointure

Word family

Derived forms dowerless

Related forms dowry endowdotation

Etymology

From Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dotarium, from Latin dos, dotis ('dowry'), from dare ('to give').

douaire Old French dos Middle English dare Latin *deh₃- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# dower

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** ˈdaʊər
**IPA (UK):** ˈdaʊə

## Meanings
1. the portion of an estate a widow receives, or a dowry

## Examples
- By law she retained her dower after her husband's death.

## Synonyms
- dowry
- portion
- endowment
- jointure

## Derived Forms
- dowerless

## Related Forms
- dowry
- endow
- dotation

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: douaire
- Root: dos
- Root: dare
- Root: *deh₃-

## Etymology
From Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dotarium, from Latin dos, dotis ('dowry'), from dare ('to give').

## AI Etymology
Dower comes from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dotarium, from Latin dos, dotis ('dowry'), from dare ('to give'). The etymological trail includes Old French douaire, Latin dos, Latin dare, and Proto-Indo-European *deh₃-. As a noun, dower names the portion of an estate a widow receives, or a dowry. The same family is visible in derived forms such as dowerless and related forms such as dowry, endow, and dotation.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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dower

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