Dowry Meaning
/ˈdaʊəɹi/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounPayment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage.
nounPayment by the groom or his family to the bride's family.
Sentence Examples
It used to be that a girl could only marry if she had a dowry.
A beautiful face is half of the dowry.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her family had to pay a large ____ to the groom's family before the wedding.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It used to be that a girl could only marry if she had a ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English dowarye, dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dower.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The family of the groom makes sure the new couple has a house to live in and land to cultivate; they will also pay for the dowry (crucial, for without dowry the new father has no rights over his children; Trouwborst 1962: 136ff.)"
— 2009, Peter Uvin, Life after Violence: A People's Story of Burundi, page 125:
"But no palace had so fair a ceiling; for from the wooden beams were suspended a whole dowry of copper vessels—pails, cauldrons, water pots, of every colour from lustrous black to the palest pink."
— 1928, E. M. Forster, The Eternal Moment:
"1976, Graham Anderson, Studies in Lucian's Comic Fiction, Page 19"
— 1911, Aida Rodman De Milt, Ways and Days Out of London, page 108:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her family had to pay a large ____ to the groom's family before the wedding.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It used to be that a girl could only marry if she had a ____.