dowager

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdaʊədʒə/ (UK); /ˈdaʊəd͡ʒɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French douagiere (“widow with a dower”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from douage “dower”,^[2][3][4][5] from douer “to endow”,^[2][3][4][5] from Latin dōtāre,^[2][3][4] from dōs (genitive dōtis) “dowry”.^[2][3][4] It is related to dower and dowry.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A widow holding a title or property from her late husband (1530).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The title distinguished a widow of rank from the wife of her husband's heir;^[4][6] the OED, quoted by Etymonline, notes that it was apparently first used of Mary Tudor, widow of Louis XII, and then of Catherine of Aragon as “Princess Dowager”.^[4] From 1870 it was applied informally to any elderly lady of dignified bearing.^[7][2][5]

Timeline

• 1530 – a widow with a title or property from her husband.^[7][3][5]
• 1542 – the spelling dowager.^[3]
• 1819 – applied to men or animals.^[7]
• 1870 – a dignified elderly lady.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A widow who holds a title or property from her late husband, as in queen dowager.
2. A dignified elderly woman of high social standing.

Word family

• dowager's hump
• queen dowager

Related words

• dower
• dowry
• endow

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press