dowry
pronunciation
How to pronounce dowry in British English:
UK [ˈdaʊri]
How to pronounce dowry in American English:
US [ˈdaʊri]
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- Noun:
- money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage
Word Origin
- dowry
- dowry: [14] English acquired dowry via Anglo- Norman dowarie from Old French douaire (source of the originally synonymous but now little-used dower [14]). This in turn came from medieval Latin dōtārium, a derivative of Latin dōs ‘dowry’, which was related to dāre ‘give’ (source of English date, donate, etc). Its associated verb, dōtāre ‘endow’, is the ancestor of English endow.=> date, donate, endow
- dowry (n.)
- early 14c., from Anglo-French dowarie, Old French doaire (late 13c.) "dower, dowry, gift," from Medieval Latin dotarium, from Latin dotare "to endow, portion," from dos (genitive dotis) "marriage portion," from PIE *do-ti (cognates: Sanskrit dadati, Greek didonai, Old Church Slavonic dati, Lithuanian duoti, Armenian tam, all meaning "to give"), from root *do- "to give" (see date (n.1)).
Example
- 1. I wonder if the dowry depends on tonnage ?
- 2. The dowry is 12000 rubles and her father owns 2 little stores .
- 3. Perhaps she needs a dowry .
- 4. He said honour and dowry murders should be punished with death .
- 5. Poorer families can either get a dowry or maybe even marry into a family of higher social standing .