dowry

American  

[dou-ree] / ˈdaʊ ri /

Also dowery

noun

dowries plural

1. Also the money, goods, or estate that a wife brings to her husband at marriage.

2. Archaic. a widow's dower.

3. a natural gift, endowment, talent, etc.

---

dowry British  

/ ˈdaʊərɪ /

noun

1. the money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage

2. (esp formerly) a gift made by a man to his bride or her parents

3. Christianity a sum of money required on entering certain orders of nuns

4. a natural talent or gift

5. obsolete a widow's dower

---

dowry Cultural  

1. Money, property, or material goods that a bride's family gives to the bridegroom or his family at the time of the wedding. In many cultures, the dowry not only helps to cement the relationship between the bride's and groom's families but also serves to reinforce traditional family roles and gender roles.

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• dowries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dowry

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English dowerie, from Anglo-French douarie, from Medieval Latin dōtārium. See dot ², -ary

Explanation

In some cultures, the bride or her family pays a certain amount of money or property to the groom when a couple is married. This payment is called a dowry. Traditionally, a woman's family offered a dowry to potential husbands in order to make the match more attractive to the man and his family. The word dowry can actually mean "payment," but it can also refer to whatever property or savings a woman herself brings into a marriage. The Latin word dotare is the root of dowry, and it means "to endow or to portion out."

Example Sentences

Dowry, she says, is often not a one-off payment for greedy families of grooms who keep demanding more and more even after marriage because "it's easy money, a conduit to get rich quick".

From BBC • Jul. 3, 2023

Dowry payments between 1950 and 1999 amounted to nearly a quarter of trillion dollars.

From BBC • May 28, 2023

Dowry is a complex issue that involves changing attitudes, implementing sex education in schools, and truly empowering women.

From The Guardian • Feb. 16, 2016

Dowry for the Duchess Sir: Well, if we're going to give a billion dollars to the English, we should get something for our money.

From Time Magazine Archive

At the same time he was doubtful as to Bryda finding her way alone, and he had asked Jack Henderson to go to Dowry Square and bring her to his mother's house.

From Bristol Bells A Story of the Eighteenth Century by Marshall, Emma

Related Words

• ancestry
• culture
• custom
• legacy
• right
• tradition