/ˈdaʊəɹi/, /ˈdaʊɹi/
OriginFrom Middle English dowarye, dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dower.
- countable, uncountablePayment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage.
- countable, uncommon, uncountablePayment by the groom or his family to the bride's family.
“The family of the groom makes sure the new couple has a house to live in and land to cultivate; they will also pay for the dowry (crucial, for without dowry the new father has no rights over his child”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableInheritance from a deceased husband to his widow.
- countable, uncountableA natural gift or talent.
- countable, informal, uncountableA large amount.
“But no palace had so fair a ceiling; for from the wooden beams were suspended a whole dowry of copper vessels—pails, cauldrons, water pots, of every colour from lustrous black to the palest pink.”
- To bestow a dowry upon.
“1976, Graham Anderson, Studies in Lucian's Comic Fiction, Page 19”
Formsdowries(plural) · dowries(present, singular, third-person) · dowrying(participle, present) · dowried(participle, past) · dowried(past)