Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Dower

Dow′er (·ẽr), n. [F. douaire, LL. dotarium, from L. dotare to endow, portion, fr. dos dower; akin to Gr. δώς gift, and to L. dare to give. See 1st Date, and cf. Dot dowry, Dotation.] 1. That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.

How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower! Sir J. Davies.

Man in his primeval dower arrayed. Wordsworth.

2. The property with which a woman is endowed; especially: (a) That which a woman brings to a husband in marriage; dowry. [Obs.]

His wife brought in dower Cilicia's crown. Dryden.

(b) (Law) That portion of the real estate of a man which his widow enjoys during her life, or to which a woman is entitled after the death of her husband. Blackstone.

☞ Dower, in modern use, is and should be distinguished from dowry. The former is a provision for a widow on her husband's death; the latter is a bride's portion on her marriage. Abbott.

Assignment of dower. See under Assignment.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.