Dowry
A New Law Dictionary and Glossary · Alexander M. Burrill · 1850
A New Law Dictionary and Glossary
The portion or property which the wife brings her husband in marriage; which, if in lands, was anciently called franhnarriage, or marriage, (marttagium) \ if in money, goods or chattels, a marriage portion.
Co. Litt. 31 a.
See Maritagium. It expresses the proper meaning of the dos of the Roman, and dot of the French law, but is a very different thing from dower, with which it has sometimes been confounded.