dower-chest

A bride places her linens inside her dower-chest.

Definition

1. Noun (historical):
   • A dower-chest is a chest or strongbox used for storing a dowry or the personal property a bride brings to her marriage. It specifically refers to a container for valuables, clothing, or household goods that form part of a woman's marriage settlement.

Usage Examples

• (A chest holding the dowry items.)
• (A container for marriage goods.)

Advanced Usage

• "dower-chest" can appear in historical or legal contexts referring to marriage contracts:
  • The will specified that the dower-chest and its contents belonged to the wife alone. (The chest was part of her legal property.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dower (n): the part of a deceased husband's estate that the law gives to his widow for her lifetime.
  • She received a dower of land and a house. (A widow's legal share.)
• Dowry (n): money or property brought by a bride to her husband at marriage.
  • The dowry included gold coins and a dower-chest. (The marriage settlement.)
• Chest (n): a strong box with a lid used for storage.
  • He kept his tools in a wooden chest. (A storage container.)

Synonyms

• Dowry chest: a chest specifically for a dowry.
• Hope chest: a chest in which a young woman stores items for her future marriage (modern equivalent).
• Marriage chest: a chest used for wedding goods.

Related Idioms

• No common idioms exist for "dower-chest" specifically, but the concept is related to "bring to the marriage" (to contribute property or wealth when marrying):
  • She brought a fine dower-chest to the marriage. (She contributed valuable goods.)