dowry
Americannoun
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Also the money, goods, or estate that a wife brings to her husband at marriage.
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Archaic. a widow's dower.
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a natural gift, endowment, talent, etc.
noun
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the money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage
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(esp formerly) a gift made by a man to his bride or her parents
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Christianity a sum of money required on entering certain orders of nuns
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a natural talent or gift
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obsolete a widow's dower
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing dowry
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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.
See Examples For:
Twisha's death has made national headlines and has once against brought the issue of dowry deaths into the spotlight.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
If she can collect the dowry from Charlie, she and Stanley can sail to Australia to escape the police and live happily ever after Down Under.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
Parents of girls are known to take out huge loans or even sell their land and house to meet dowry demands.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
Budi, 55, sometimes receives 10% of the dowry for driving and interpreting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2024
The four trunks were part of Grandma’s dowry.
From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang
The grooms in Malaysia forfeit dowries and often send money to the brides’ parents.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2023
Even though India outlawed dowries in 1961, the centuries-old tradition of the bride's family gifting cash, gold and other expensive items to the groom's family remains rampant.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2022
Officially, dowries are illegal now, and daughters are supposed to inherit alongside sons.
From New York Times ● Jun. 8, 2022
Women retained the ownership of their dowries at marriage, could initiate divorce, and controlled their own inheritances.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
There was the vital matter of two dowries.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
