Dowry

Pronunciation

• RP: IPA: /ˈdaʊəɹi/
• US: IPA: /ˈdaʊɹi/
• Rhymes: -aʊəɹi, -aʊɹi

Origin

From Middle English dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs, dōtis.

Full definition of dowry

Noun

1. Payment, as property or money, of a bride’s inheritance by her family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage.Gary Ferraro & Susan Andreatta, Cultural Anthropology, 8th edn. (Belmont, Cal: Wadsworth, 2010), 223.

Antonyms

• dower
• bride price

Hypernyms

• marriage portion

Related terms

• reverse dowry
• dowager
• endow

Verb

1. To bestow a dowry upon.
• 1999, Judith Everard, ‎Michael C. E. Jones, Charters Duchess Constance Br, Page xvi
• 2013 Noreen Giffney, ‎Margrit Shildrick, Theory on the Edge: Irish Studies and the Politics of Sexual Difference, Page 62
• 1911, Aida Rodman De Milt, Ways and Days Out of London, Page 108
• 1976, Graham Anderson, Studies in Lucian's Comic Fiction, Page 19

Anagrams

• rowdy, wordy