dowry
/ˈdaʊ(ə)ri
/noun (plural dowries)
An amount of property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage: Elizabeth’s dowry was to be £45,000 in diamonds...
- The bride brings a dowry to the marriage usually consisting of household goods and her own clothing.
- Middle-class families needed capital and credit, and marriage had considerable importance in bringing in funds through dowries and marriage settlements, and giving access to credit networks.
- In the past, marriages were arranged and women brought a dowry to the marriage.
Synonyms
marriage settlement, (marriage) portion;
Scottish & Northern English tocher
archaic dot
Origin
Middle English (denoting a widow's life interest in her husband's estate): from Anglo-Norman French dowarie, from medieval Latin dotarium (see dower).
Rhymes
- Defence Force
- defence in depth
- defenceless
- defencelessly
- defencelessness
- defenceman
- defence mechanism
- defend
- defendable
- defendant
- defender
- Defender of the Faith
- defenestrate
- defenestration
- defense
- defenseless
- defenseman
- defensibility
- defensible
- defensibly
- defensive
- defensive coordinator
- defensive end
- defensive line
- defensive lineman