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dowager

noun
/ˈdaʊədʒə/UK/ˈdaʊəd͡ʒɚ/CA

Etymology

From Middle French douagere, douagiere, from douage (“dower”), from the verb douer (“to endow”), from Latin dōtō (“to endow”), from dōs (“dowry”).

  1. derived from dōtō
  2. borrowed from douagere

Definitions

  1. A widow holding property or title derived from her late husband.

    • A reclusive dowager owned the pastures across the river, and her farmhands ran beef cattle on them.

  2. The widow of the holder of a title (usually a member of the peerage or a baronet)

    The widow of the holder of a title (usually a member of the peerage or a baronet); used in combination with the title she held during her husband's lifetime.

    • the Earl and Countess of Whiteacre, and the Earl's mother, the dowager Countess of Whiteacre
    • Sir George Sitwell, Bt. and Lady Sitwell, and Sir George's mother, the dowager Lady Sitwell

  3. Any lady of dignified bearing, especially an older one.

    • A stately dowager entered the ballroom, and all eyes were upon her.

The neighborhood

Derived

dowagerish, dowagerism, dowagerlike, dowagerly, dowager's hump, empress dowager, queen dowager

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for dowager. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA