Etymology

dowry

D2O1W4R1Y4

Today it means: Payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Full definition →

Middle English dowarye ← Anglo-Norman dowarie ← Old French douaire
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromdōs
  2. Medieval Latin · derived fromdōtārium
  3. Old French · derived fromdouaire
  4. Anglo-Norman · derived fromdowarie
  5. Middle English · inherited fromdowarye
  6. English todaydowry

From Middle English dowarye, dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dower.

Words from the same roots

Medieval Latindōtārium all →

dower

Latindōs all →

dowerdote

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.