dowry

B2 Topic:Family & Relationships

US /ˈdaʊri/ UK /ˈdaʊəɹi/ See IPA manual

Freq #9761

Meanings

1

noun
Money or property that a bride brings to her husband when they marry.

In some cultures, a bride's family still provides a dowry at marriage.
2

noun
A payment of money or goods given by one family to the other at a marriage.

The groom's family paid a large dowry to the bride's parents.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · money or property that a... portion

2 noun · a payment of money or goods... bride pricedower

Word family

Forms dowries

Derived forms antidowrydowryless

Related forms dowager endow

Etymology

From Middle English dowarye, dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dower.

*deh₃- Proto-Indo-European dowarye Middle English dowarie xno douaire Old French dōtārium la-med dōs Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# dowry

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈdaʊri/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdaʊəɹi/
**Frequency rank:** 9761

## Meanings
1. Money or property that a bride brings to her husband when they marry.
2. A payment of money or goods given by one family to the other at a marriage.

## Examples
- In some cultures, a bride's family still provides a dowry at marriage.
- The groom's family paid a large dowry to the bride's parents.

## Derived Forms
- antidowry
- dowryless

## Related Forms
- dowager
- endow

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *deh₃-
- Root: dowarye
- Root: dowarie
- Root: douaire
- Root: dōtārium
- Root: dōs

## Etymology
From Middle English dowarye, dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dower.

## AI Etymology
Dowry comes from Middle English dowarye, dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dower. In current use, the main senses are “Money or property that a bride brings to her husband when they marry” and “A payment of money or goods given by one family to the other at a marriage”.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships
- Money & Finance

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dowry

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