endow
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to provide with or bequeath a source of permanent income
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(usually foll by with) to provide (with qualities, characteristics, etc)
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obsolete to provide with a dower
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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superendowverb (used with object)
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unendowingadjective
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reendowverb (used with object)
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endowernoun
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has endowedperfect 3rd person singular
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have endowedperfect
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have been endowingperfect progressive
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am endowingprogressive 1st person singular
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are endowingprogressive
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is endowingprogressive 3rd person singular
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endowssingular 3rd person
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has been endowingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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endowingparticiple
Past
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had endowedperfect
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was endowingprogressive singular
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had been endowingperfect progressive
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were endowingprogressive plural
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endowedparticiple
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endowedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of endow
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English endowen, from Old French endouer, equivalent to en- en- 1 + douer, from Latin dōtāre “to dower,” equivalent to dōt- (stem of dōs ) “dowry” + -āre infinitive suffix
Explanation
To endow is to furnish, but not with furniture. If you've been endowed with something, it means you've been given a gift — most likely a gift that can't be returned or exchanged, like a sense of humor or athletic ability or trust. We usually use endow to refer to an ability or a quality, but you can endow someone with money, too. Endow is related to the word dowry, which is a gift that a man — or sometimes a woman — receives from his or her fiancé’s family before the wedding. The practice of giving dowries has fallen out of fashion in most Western countries, but there are still many parts of the world where it's common for the bride's family to provide the groom with an endowment of land and livestock.
Vocabulary lists containing endow
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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.
In 2009, they gave $40 million to endow the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy at Stanford, the first of several multimillion-dollar gifts to Stanford and Yale to support climate-focused ventures.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
She believed, as Arendt never could have, in the judgment of history as “an objective suprahuman process” that, like God for believers, would remember even trivial human events and endow all experience with meaning.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
For breeders to make use of that diversity, however, they need to know which landraces could endow wheat with potentially desirable traits.
From Science Magazine • Jun. 16, 2024
"We show that we can use this fluid to endow intelligence into a simple robot," said Djellouli.
From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2024
He comprehends it, being a man full grown, able to oversee the kind of house Zeus would endow with honor.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
