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Origin and history of dowry

dowry(n.)

c. 1400, "money, goods, or estate which a woman brings to her husband in marriage," from Anglo-French dowarie, Old French doaire (late 13c.) "dower, dowry, gift," from Medieval Latin dotarium, from Latin dotare "to endow, portion," from dos (genitive dotis) "marriage portion," from PIE *do-ti, from root *do- "to give." Compare dower.

dower, dowry. The two words, originally the same, are differentiated in ordinary literal use, dower being the widow's life share of her husband's property, & dowry the portion brought by a bride to her husband; but in poetic or other ornamental use dower has often the sense of dowry; & either is applied figuratively to talents &c. [Fowler]

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to dowry

dower(n.)

mid-15c. (from late 13c. in Anglo-French), "property which a woman brings to her husband at marriage," from Old French doaire "dower, dowry, gift" (see dowry). In modern legal use, "portion of a late husband's real property allowed to a widow for her life." Meaning "one's portion of natural gifts" is from late 14c. 

*do-

*dō-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to give."

It might form all or part of: anecdote; antidote; betray; condone; dacha; dado; data; date (n.1) "time;" dative; deodand; die (n.); donation; donative; donor; Dorian; Dorothy; dose; dowager; dower; dowry; edition; endow; Eudora; fedora; Isidore; mandate; Pandora; pardon; perdition; Polydorus; render; rent (n.1) "payment for use of property;" sacerdotal; samizdat; surrender; Theodore; Theodosia; vend.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dadati "gives," danam "offering, present;" Old Persian dadatuv "let him give;" Greek didomi, didonai, "to give, offer," dōron "gift;" Latin dare "to give, grant, offer," donum "gift;" Armenian tam "to give;" Old Church Slavonic dati "give," dani "tribute;" Lithuanian duoti "to give," duonis "gift;" Old Irish dan "gift, endowment, talent," Welsh dawn "gift."

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    portion
    early 14c., porcioun, "allotted part, part assigned or attributed, share," also "lot, fate, destiny," from Old French porcion "part, portion" (12c., Modern French portion) and directly from Latin portionem (nominative portio) "share, part," accusative of the noun in the phrase pr
    paraphernalia
    1650s, in law, "a woman's property besides her dowry," from Medieval Latin paraphernalia (short for paraphernalia bona "paraphernal...goods"), neuter plural of paraphernalis (adj.), from Late Latin parapherna, in Roman law "a woman's property besides her dowry...," from Greek parapherna, neuter plural, from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + pherne "dowry," which is related to pherein...
    gift
    from Proto-Germanic *geftiz (source also of Old Saxon gift, Old Frisian jefte, Middle Dutch ghifte "gift," German Mitgift "dowry...Old English cognate gift is recorded only in the sense "bride-price, marriage gift (by the groom), dowry" (hence gifta (pl...
    dowager
    pertaining to a dower," from douage "dower," from douer "endow," from Latin dotare, from dos (genitive dotis) "marriage portion, dowry...
    marriage
    also "a union of a man and woman for life by marriage, a particular matrimonial union;" from Old French mariage "marriage; dowry...
    depression
    c. 1400 as a term in astronomy, "angular distance of a star below the horizon," from Old French depression (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin depressionem (nominative depressio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin deprimere "to press down, depress" (see depres
    institute
    early 14c., "to establish in office, appoint," from Latin institutus, past participle of instituere "to set up, put in place; arrange; found, establish; appoint, designate; govern, administer; teach, instruct," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + statuere "establish, to caus
    chaos
    late 14c., "gaping void; empty, immeasurable space," from Old French chaos (14c.) or directly from Latin chaos, from Greek khaos "abyss, that which gapes wide open, that which is vast and empty" (from *khnwos, from PIE root *ghieh- "to yawn, gape, be wide open"). The meaning "utt
    kindergarten
    1852, from German Kinder-Garten (1840), literally "children-garden, garden of children," a metaphoric name from Kinder "children" (plural of Kind "child;" see kin (n.)) + Garten "garden" (from suffixed form of PIE root *gher- (1) "to grasp, enclose"). Coined by German educator Fr
    edifice
    late 14c., from Old French edifice "building" (12c.), from Latin aedificium "building," from aedificare "to erect a building," from aedis, variant of aedes "temple, sanctuary," usually a single edifice without partitions, also, in the plural, "dwelling house, building," originall

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