dowager

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊədʒə/

Noun

dowager (plural dowagers)

1. A widow holding property or title derived from her late husband.
   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 24962326:

     “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, the chlorotic squatters on huge yachts, […]!”

2. Any lady of dignified bearing.

Anagrams

• dogwear, wordage