dowager

Definition

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

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "A reclusive dowager owned the pastures across the river, and her farmhands ran beef cattle on them."
• "“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,[…]!”"
• "the Earl and Countess of Whiteacre, and the Earl's mother, the dowager Countess of Whiteacre"