What does dowery mean?
Dowery is a historical word for wealth or possessions associated with a bride's marriage. In its more specific older use, it meant the bride's own property and resources that she brought into the marriage, as distinct from property given to the husband by her family, which is now usually called a dowry. The term also appears in older legal and literary contexts as a synonym for a dowry or a woman's marriage portion. It is not a normal modern choice for describing a wedding gift: its associations are with customary law, inheritance, property, and a woman's financial position within a marriage. That history makes dowery useful when reading medieval contracts, historical fiction, or legal sources. In contemporary English, dowry is the familiar term, but a precise writer may choose dowery to preserve a particular older sense or reflect the vocabulary of a historical text.
nounHistorically, a bride's wealth or possessions brought into a marriage, especially the portion she owned. It was also used more generally as an older name for a dowry.
- A bride's wealth, property, or other possessions brought into a marriage.
- An older, less specific synonym for a dowry or a woman's marriage portion.
"The young bride brought a dowery of land, silver, and books into the marriage."
"The young bride brought a dowery of land, silver, and books into the marriage."
"The family settled the matter by increasing her dowery before the ceremony."
The standard modern plural is dowries, although the word itself is now rarely used.
"The records specify doweries of land awarded to the daughters."
Dowery is the archaic, property-law cousin of dowry—more likely to turn up in a medieval marriage contract than a modern wedding invitation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does dowery come from?
Dowery entered English through Anglo-French forms such as dowerie, derived from a word meaning a woman's marriage portion. Its deeper source is Latin dos, meaning a dowry or marriage gift, which also underlies words including dower, dotal, and dotation.
How dowery is actually used
Dowery is archaic, historical, or literary rather than part of ordinary contemporary vocabulary. It often carries legal or customary associations with marriage settlements and women's property.
Easily confused with dowery
Modern dowry usually means property or money given by a bride or her family to the groom; in its more specific older use, dowery emphasizes the bride's own property or resources brought into the marriage.