dower2 (douer)

[ Is there a virgin of good fame wants dower? He is a father to her. Fletcher , Beggars' Bush, i. 3. He wedded a wife of richest dower , Who lived for fashion, as he for power. Whittier, Maud Muller. 2. In law , the portion which the law allows to a widow for her life out of the real property in which her deceased husband held an estate of inheritance. At common law it is one third of such real property held by the husband at any time during the marriage as the common i ue of the husband and wife might have inherited, except such property as has been conveyed with the concurrence of the wife. The wife may also bar the right of dower by accepting a jointure. By modify ing statutes, in some of the United States, the dower is sometimes a share in fee, and sometimes extends only to property which the husband held at the time of his death. In England, by the Dower Act of 1833, the common-law rights of the wife have been greatly modified, her dower being entirely under the control of the husband. In the earlier periods of the common law several kinds of dower were usual, as dower ad ostium ecclesiæ, which was dower voluntarily pledged by the husband at the porch of the church where the marriage was solemnized; and in this case the share might be le than a third, or (except for a restriction at one time imposed for the protection of the interests of feudal lords) it might be more than a third. This was, sometimes at least, done by the declaration in the marriage service "with all my lands I thee endow," or the husband might specify a particular manor or other lands. If he had no lands, or chose to mention goods only, the declaration was, as now, "with all my worldly goods I thee endow," in which case the wife, if she survived him, was entitled to a third of the personal property left by him; and if he left lands, the law, notwithstanding his omi ion to promise dower in them, gave her what was called reasonable dower , or dower according to custom , viz., the life estate in one third as above described, unle she had accepted a jointure or other provision in lieu of dower. The dower of lands in English law belonged to a cla of institutions widely spread over western Europe, 1749 very similar in general character, often designated as doa. rium, but differing considerably in detail. Maine, Early Hist. of Institutions, p. 338. 3. One's portion of natural gifts; personal en- dowment. He's noble every way, and worth a wife With all the dowers of virtue. Beau. and Fl., Honest Man's Fortune, v. 3. And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower, We feel that we are greater than we know. Words worth, River Duddon, xxxiv. Admeasurement of dower, a proceeding to set off to a widow the third of her deceased husband's property to which she is legally entitled. - A ignment of dower. See a ign, v. Inchoate right of dower, that anticipation of a right of dower which a wife of the owner of real property has during his life, it being contingent on her surviving as his widow. - Release of dower, the act or instrument by which an inchoate right of dower is extinguished. common law this is effected only joining in the husband's deed of conveyance. To a ign dower. See a ign.- To bar dower, to preclude the claiming of dower by a widow, as by her joining her hus band conveying during his life. Writ of dower, a proce for the establishing of the right of dower, or the recovery of the land by the widow. dower (dou'ėr), v. t. [ IMG:content-3105.png:[blocks in formation] Take her, or leave her? The poet in a golden clime was born, With golden stars above; Dower'd with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn, The love of love. Tennyson, The Poet. dower-house (dou'èr-hous), n. In Great Britain, a house provided for the residence of a widow after the estate of her husband, with its manor-house, has pa ed to the heir. dowerle (dou'ér-les), a. [ Dow'rle to court some peasant's arms, To guard your withered age from harms. E. More , The Colt and the Farmer, Fable 12. doweryt (dou'er-i), n. An obsolete form of dowry. dowf (douf), a. [Sc., also written douf, dolf, etc., They're [Italian lays] douf and dowie at the best, Douf and dowie, douf and dowie, They're douf and dowie at the best, Wi' a' their variorum. J. Skinner, Tullochgorum. 2. Dull; hollow: as, a douf sound. Jamie son. dowie (dou'i), a. Dull; melancholy; in bad health; in bad tune. [Scotch.] She maun a put on the black, the black, Nor yet the dowie brown. Sweet Willie and Fair Annie (Child's Ballads, II. 135). O bonny, bonny, sang the bird, Sat on the coil o' hay, But dowie , dowie , was the maid That follow'd the corpus' clay. Clerk Saunders , II. 324. dowitch (douʼich), n. Sameas dowitcher. [Local, U. S. (New York).]