reverse dowry

See also: reverse-dowry

English

Alternative forms

• reverse-dowry

Noun

reverse dowry (plural reverse dowries)

1. A sum of money or other valuables paid by a bridegroom or on his behalf to the family of the bride, in some cultures.
   • 1978, Carol Meyers, “The Roots of Restriction: Women in Early Israel”, in The Biblical Archaeologist, volume 41, number 3, page 98:

     This bride-gift, a kind of reverse dowry, indicates that grooms had to compete for relatively few brides.

   • 1991 September 16, Ned Zeman, “Houston's Sleazy Saga”, in Newsweek:

     Doug's mother, Lynn Sakowitz Wyatt, reveals that before her father, Bernard, would allow her to marry Coastal Corp. chairman Oscar Wyatt, he negotiated a reverse dowry giving him $1 million in corporate stock.

Synonyms

• bride price
• dower

Translations

bride price — see bride price