US /ˈdaʊri/ UK /ˈdaʊəɹi/
noun verb Freq #9761

Meanings

  1. 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. 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 dowagerendow

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.

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