Definition of "dower"

dower

/ˈdaʊ.əɹ/

noun
plural dowers
1. (law) The part of or interest in a deceased husband's property provided to his widow, usually in the form of a life estate.
2. (law) Property given by a groom directly to his bride at or before their wedding in order to legitimize the marriage; dowry.
  Quotations
  […] how features are abroad, / I am skill-less of; but, by my modesty,— / The jewel in my dower,—I would not wish / Any companion in the world but you […]
  1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene i]
  In New Bedford, fathers, they say, give whales for dowers to their daughters, and portion off their nieces with a few porpoises a-piece.
  1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 6
3. (obsolete) That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.
  Quotations
  How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower!
  c. 1600, John Davies, The Dignity of Man
  Man in his primeval dower arrayed.
  1793, William Wordsworth, Descriptive Sketches
verb
third-person singular simple present dowers, present participle dowering, simple past and past participle dowered
1. (transitive) To give a dower or dowry to.
  Quotations
  He had married a lady well educated and softly nurtured, but not dowered with worldly wealth.
  1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage
2. (transitive) To endow.

Definition of "dower"

dower

noun

Quotations

Quotations

verb

Quotations