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dowry

Etymology and origin of the English word dowry

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1292
Inherited from
Middle English dowarie

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdaʊəɹi/, /ˈdaʊɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dowarie,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douaire (“dower, gift”),[2][3][5][4] from Medieval Latin dōtārium,[2][3][5][6] from Latin dōtāre (“to endow”), from dōs (“marriage portion”) (genitive dōtis),[3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *do- (“to give”).[5] It is related to dōnum (“gift”).[3] It was originally the same word as dower.[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A widow's share of her husband's property, the same as dower (1292 in the OED; before 1338 in Barnhart), a sense now obsolete.[8][3]

Semantic evolution

By about 1400 it meant the money or property a wife brings to her husband at marriage,[8][5][3] and the two words came to be distinguished, dower being the widow's share and dowry the bride's portion.[5] It could also be a gift made by a man to or for his bride (c. 1450),[8][4] as in Genesis: “Ask me never so much dowry and gift.”[9] Figuratively a dowry is a gift or talent bestowed by nature or fortune (c. 1440).[8][2] In some religious orders it is the sum required of a woman entering a convent.[2][10]

Timeline

  • 1292 – a widow's dower (obsolete).[8]
  • c. 1400 – a bride's marriage portion.[8][5]
  • c. 1440 – a natural gift or talent.[8]
  • c. 1450 – a gift by a man to his bride.[8]
  • 1588 – verb, to give a dowry to.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Money or property brought by a bride to her husband at marriage.
  2. A gift of money or property by a man to or for his bride.
  3. A sum of money required of a woman entering certain religious orders of nuns.
  4. A natural gift or talent; an endowment.
  5. (archaic) A widow's dower.
  • dowager
  • endow
  • dower
  • donation
  • dot

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Dowry.” Etymologically, 12 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/dowry. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·