Doweries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The money, goods or property that a bride brings to her husband when they marry
2. Wealth transferred from a bride's family to her new husband or his household at the time of marriage
3. Assets given by a woman's family to her future husband as part of the marriage arrangement

Etymology: "Doweries" is simply the plural of "dowery", so it names more than one such settlement, or the property and money given with a bride across several marriages or families. The plural follows the regular English pattern: the final "y" after a consonant changes to "ie" before "s", as in "lady" becoming "ladies". The base noun "dowery" is the form that carries the history, descending from the idea of a gift a bride brings into marriage, and the plural simply reflects that the word can be counted.