dowry
/ˈdaʊəɹi/noun, verb
dowry is spelled D-O-W-R-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dowry means “Payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dowry is dowries.
How many letters and syllables are in dowry?
| Letters | 5: D-O-W-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,463rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is dowry?
Dowry appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dowry?
- US /ˈdaʊəɹi/
- US /ˈdaʊɹi/
Dowry has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dowry.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dowry?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dowry from its last stressed vowel (/aʊəɹi/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rowdy, wordy.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dowry
- dowries plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dowrying participle, present
- dowried participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dowry mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage.
- 2
Payment by the groom or his family to the bride's family.
- 3
obsoleteInheritance from a deceased husband to his widow.
- 4
A natural gift or talent.
- 5
informalA large amount.
verb
- 1
To bestow a dowry upon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dowry in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense property or payment given at time of marriage:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dowry come from?
From Middle English dowarye, dowerie, from Anglo-Norman dowarie, douarie, from Old French douaire, from Medieval Latin dōtārium, from Latin dōs. Doublet of dower.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).