Etymograph

English

dowager

Dowager comes from Middle French douagere, from Latin dōtō ‘to endow’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-1‘give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₃tis1‘giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dōtis1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōs2‘gift, endowment, talent’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōtō3‘to endow’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600douagere3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1907dowager3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin dos
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin doto
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English dowager
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, New York: ““I don't mean all of your friends—only a small…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-Wiktionary, Latin dos‘give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₃tisWiktionary, Latin dos‘giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dōtisWiktionary, Latin dosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōsWiktionary, Latin doto‘gift, endowment, talent’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōtōWiktionary, English dowager‘to endow’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600douagereWiktionary, English dowager
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1907dowagerWiktionary, English dowager. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, New York: ““I don't mean all of your friends—only a small…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’

data, date, add, die, addition, rent, tradition, delicious, dose, surrender, treason, donate, donation, vent, donor, vendor, render, rendition, additive, rendezvous, antidote, anecdote, condone, addendum, dative, perdition, dacha, dati, sconce, 39 more

through Latin dōs ‘gift, endowment, talent’

dowry, dower, 4 more

through Latin dōtō ‘to endow’

dow, endow, 3 more

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dowager”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin dos, Latin doto. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- / dowager

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