dower house

American  

noun

British.

1. the dwelling that is intended for or occupied by the widowed mother of the owner of an ancestral estate.

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dower house British  

noun

1. a house set apart for the use of a widow, often on her deceased husband's estate

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Etymology

Origin of dower house

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dower house

Used to be a kind of dower house once upon a time, they say.”

From The Jervaise Comedy by Beresford, J. D. (John Davys)

The Hermitage was properly the dower house of the Towers, but for the last two generations had not been required as such.

From The Shadow of the East by Hull, E. M. (Edith Maude)

The question was whether I should be taken to the house her step-mother occupied at Bedley Corner, the Carnaby dower house, or down to Carnaby's place at Easting.

From Tono Bungay by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

It happened that the old lady's dower house was at Stevening, some fourteen or fifteen miles from Exham Park.

From Miss Arnott's Marriage by Marsh, Richard

Whenever Philip married, she would find it no hardship at all to retire to the dower house at the edge of the park.

From Lady Merton, Colonist by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.