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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Dower \Dow"er\, noun [F. douaire, LL. dotarium, from L. dotare to endow, portion, fr. dos dower; akin to Gr. ? gift, and to L. dare to give. See 1st {Date}, and cf. {Dot} dowry, {Dotation}.]
1. That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.
How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower! --Sir J. Davies.
Man in his primeval dower arrayed. --Wordsworth.
2. The property with which a woman is endowed; especially: (a) That which a woman brings to a husband in marriage; dowry. [Obs.]
His wife brought in dower Cilicia's crown. --Dryden. (b) (Law) That portion of the real estate of a man which his widow enjoys during her life, or to which a woman is entitled after the death of her husband. --Blackstone.
Note: Dower, in modern use, is and should be distinguished from dowry. The former is a provision for a widow on her husband's death; the latter is a bride's portion on her marriage. --Abbott.
{Assignment of dower}. See under {Assignment}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
dower
noun
1: money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage [syn: {dowry}, {dowery}]
2: a life estate to which a wife is entitled on the death of her husband
verb: furnish with an endowment; "When she got married, she got dowered" [syn: {endow}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "dower": ability, accouter, appanage, appoint, bless with, bump, caliber, capability, capacity, dot, dowry, endow, endow with, endowment, endue, equip, equipment, faculty, favor with, flair, forte, foundation, furnish, genius, gift, grace with, instinct, invest, investment, jointure, legal jointure, long suit, makings, marriage portion, metier, natural endowment, natural gift, outfit, parts, portion, potential, power, powers, qualification, settle on, settle upon, settlement, speciality, strong flair, strong point, talent, talents, the goods, the stuff, thirds, vest, vest with, what it takes
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