Dower

Dower (Latin: dotarium, donatio propter nuptias, Byzantine: hypobolon; French: douaire, Dutch: weduwgift, German: Wittum) is a provision accorded by law, but traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support in the event that she should survive her husband (i.e., become a widow). It was settled on the bride by agreement at the time of the wedding, or provided by law. ("Settled" here refers to a gift into trust.)

The dower grew out of the Germanic practice of bride price (Old English weotuma) which was given over to a bride's family well in advance for arranging the marriage, but during the early Middle Ages, was given directly to the wife instead. However, in popular parlance, the term may be used for a life interest in property settled by a husband on his wife at any time, not just at the wedding. The verb is to dower (dower, dowers, dowered).

In popular usage, the term dower may be confused with:

• A dowager is a widow (who may receive her dower). The term is especially used of a noble or royal widow who no longer occupies the position she held during the marriage. For example, Queen Elizabeth was technically the dowager queen after the death of George VI (though she was referred to by the more informal title "Queen Mother"), and Princess Lilian is currently the Dowager Duchess of Halland in heraldic parlance. Such a dowager will receive the income from her dower property. (The term "Empress Dowager", in Chinese history, has a different meaning.)
• Property brought to the marriage by the bride is called a dowry. But the word dower has been used since Chaucer (The Clerk's Tale) in the sense of dowry, and is recognized as a definition of dower in the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Property made over to the bride's family at the time of the wedding is a bride price. This property does not pass to the bride herself.