Etymology

dowager

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Today it means: A widow holding property or title derived from her late husband. Full definition →

Middle French douagere ← Latin dōtō
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromdōtō“to endow”
  2. Middle French · borrowed fromdouagere
  3. English todaydowager

From Middle French douagere, douagiere, from douage (“dower”), from the verb douer (“to endow”), from Latin dōtō (“to endow”), from dōs (“dowry”).

Words from the same roots

Latindōtō all →

dowdotatedowage

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.