noun
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the life interest in a part of her husband's estate allotted to a widow by law
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an archaic word for dowry
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a natural gift or talent
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dower
1250–1300; Middle English dowere < Old French do ( u ) aire < Medieval Latin dōtārium. See dot 2, -ary
Vocabulary lists containing dower
Selection Vocabulary 4, Unit 5
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Vocabulary from the Magna Carta, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As historians John Dower and Ronald Takaki have shown, such exterminationist sentiments were fueled by anti-Asian racism, which framed the Pacific War in the American imagination as a race war.
From Salon • Aug. 14, 2025
“It’s a simple question of who gets to decide and under the Texas Constitution … that authority is vested in the governor of the state of Texas,” Dower said.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 20, 2021
Dower is a literary publicist and poet; her latest collection is “Sunbathing on Tyrone Power’s Grave.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2021
For Heather Dower, marketing and communications manager at ESL UK, the British division of the world's largest esports organisation, the issue doesn't lie with the winner but the judges.
From BBC • Sep. 13, 2018
Annette guided Mrs. Nicholls and Mrs. Cocks and the timid under-housemaid from the Dower House from circling round the note to the note itself.
From Notwithstanding by Cholmondeley, Mary
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
