reverse dowry

reverse dowry (plural reverse dowries)

2. A sum of money or other valuables paid by a bridegroom or on his behalf to the family of the bride, in some cultures.

   Alternative form: reverse-dowry

   Synonyms: bride price, dower, dowry (in its less common sense); see others at bride price

   Antonym: dowry (in its usual sense)

   Hypernyms: marriage-portion < price, fee, gift

   • 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.