Etymology From Middle English dower, dowere, from Old French doeire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dowry.
1
Law The part of or interest in a deceased husband's property provided to his widow, usually in the form of a life estate.
2
Law Property given by a groom to his bride or her family, at or before their wedding, in order to legitimize the marriage
[…] how features are abroad, / I am skill-less of; but, by my modesty,— / The jewel in my dower,—I would not wish / Any companion in the world but you […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
In New Bedford, fathers, they say, give whales for dowers to their daughters, and portion off their nieces with a few porpoises a-piece.1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 6:
3
Obsolete That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.
How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower!c. 1600, John Davies, The Dignity of Man:
Man in his primeval dower arrayed.1793, William Wordsworth, Descriptive Sketches:
1 more example
For though God had bestowed on her the rare dower of a fine mind, He had not added to it the much more common, though infinitely less precious gift, of a quick intellect.1856, Julia Kavanagh, chapter III, in Rachel Gray, London: Hurst and Blackett, page 49:
Etymology From Middle English dower, dowere, from Old French doeire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dowry.
1
To give a dower or dowry to.
He had married a lady well educated and softly nurtured, but not dowered with worldly wealth.1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:
2
To endow.
It was nothing of this earth, but a piece of the great outside; and as such dowered with outside properties and obedient to outside laws.1927, H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space: