portionlessadj.
/ˈpɔːʃ(ə)nləs/, U.S. /ˈpɔrʃənləs/ Without a portion; esp. without a dowry or dower.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > gifts and payments > [adjective] > of or relating to dowry > possessing a dowry > not
dowerless1608
unportioned1661
portionless1694
tocherless1790
undowered1803
untochered1823
dowryless1925
1694 tr. Terence Tricks of Phormio in Terence's Comedies 250 I warrant you suppose I've none but Portionless Clients; but I'll have ye to know, I've those with Portions too.
1699 J. Harris Love's Lottery iii. iii. 40 My Daughter shall never be upbraided for a Portionless Wife.
1706 New Art of Thriving §14 He that Weds meerly for Money, turns Marriage into a Bargain and Sale; and he that Marries one wholly Portionless, does the worst of Drugeries for nothing.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. viii. vi. 258 Were this excellent young creature portionless, I would not hesitate in giving my consent.
1816 J. Austen Emma I. ii. 26 He had, by that time, realized an easy competence..—enough to marry a woman as portionless even as Miss Taylor. View more context for this quotation
1859 W. M. Thackeray Virginians iv Harry, Harry! I wish I had put by the money for thee, my poor portionless child.
1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel II. xxxix. 209 [His troubles] had consisted chiefly of the persecutions to which he had been subjected by the mothers of portionless young ladies.
1937 Nature 20 Feb. 328/1 The husband in such a group, finding property to descend matrilineally, would try to provide for his portionless sister's family.
1994 L. Gordon Charlotte Brontë (1995) i. 14 Mr Brontë's failures to secure another wife with private means..had practical consequences for his five daughters. They would be portionless, and therefore unlikely to find husbands.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1694