The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Dower \Dow"er\, n. [F. douaire, LL. dotarium, from L. dotare to
   endow, portion, fr. dos dower; akin to Gr. ? gift, and to L.
   dare to give. See 1st Date, and cf. Dot dowry,
   Dotation.]
   1. That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.
      [1913 Webster]

            How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower! --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.
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            Man in his primeval dower arrayed.    --Wordsworth.
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   2. The property with which a woman is endowed; especially:
      (a) That which a woman brings to a husband in marriage;
          dowry. [Obs.]
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                His wife brought in dower Cilicia's crown.
                                                  --Dryden.
      (b) (Law) That portion of the real estate of a man which
          his widow enjoys during her life, or to which a woman
          is entitled after the death of her husband.
          --Blackstone.
          [1913 Webster]

   Note: Dower, in modern use, is and should be distinguished
         from dowry. The former is a provision for a widow on
         her husband's death; the latter is a bride's portion on
         her marriage. --Abbott.
         [1913 Webster]

   Assignment of dower. See under Assignment.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

dower
    n 1: money or property brought by a woman to her husband at
         marriage [syn: dowry, dowery, dower, portion]
    2: a life estate to which a wife is entitled on the death of her
       husband
    v 1: furnish with an endowment; "When she got married, she got
         dowered" [syn: endow, dower]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

58 Moby Thesaurus words for "dower":
   ability, accouter, appanage, appoint, bless with, bump, caliber,
   capability, capacity, dot, dowry, endow, endow with, endowment,
   endue, equip, equipment, faculty, favor with, flair, forte,
   foundation, furnish, genius, gift, grace with, instinct, invest,
   investment, jointure, legal jointure, long suit, makings,
   marriage portion, metier, natural endowment, natural gift, outfit,
   parts, portion, potential, power, powers, qualification, settle on,
   settle upon, settlement, speciality, strong flair, strong point,
   talent, talents, the goods, the stuff, thirds, vest, vest with,
   what it takes



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DOWER. An estate for life, which the law gives the widow in the third part
of the lands and tenements, or hereditaments of which the husband, was
solely seised, at any time during the coverture, of an estate in fee or in
tail, in possession, and to which estate in the lands and tenements, the
issue, if any, of such widow might, by possibility, have inherited. Watk.
Prin. Con. 38; Litt. Sec. 36; 7 Greenl. 383. Vide Estate in Dower. This is
dower at common law.
     2. Besides this, in England there are three other species of dower now
subsisting; namely, dower by custom, which is, where a widow becomes
entitled to a certain portion of her husband's lands in consequence of some
local or particular custom, thus by the custom of gavelkind, the widow is
entitled to a moiety of all the lands and tenements, which her husband held
by that tenure.
     3. Dower ad ostium ecclesiae, is, when a man comes to the church door
to be married, after troth plighted, endows his wife of a certain portion of
his lands.
     4. Dower ex assensu patris, was only a species of dower ad ostium
ecclesice, made when the husband's father was alive, and the son, with his
consent expressly given, endowed his wife, at the church door, of a certain
part of his father's lands.
     5. There was another kind, de la plus belle, to which the abolition of
military tenures has put an end. Vide Cruise's Dig. t. 6, c. 1; 2 Bl. Com.
129; 15 Serg. & Rawle, 72 Poth. Du Douaire.
     6. Dower is barred in various ways; 1. By the adultery of the wife,
unless it has been condoned. 2. By a jointure settled upon the wife. 2
Paige, R. 511. 3. By the wife joining her husband in a conveyance of the
estate. 4. By the husband and wife levying a fine, or suffering a common
recovery. 10 Co. 49, b Plowd. 504. 5. By a divorce a vinculo matrimonii. 6.
By an acceptance, by the wife, of a collateral satisfaction, consisting of
land, money, or other chattel interest, given instead of it by the husband's
will, and accepted after the husband's death. In these cases she has a right
to elect whether to take her dower or the bequest or devise. 4 Monr. R. 265;
5 Monr. R. 58; 4 Desaus. R. 146; 2 M'Cord, Ch. R. 280; 7 Cranch, R. 370; 5
Call, R. 481; 1 Edw. R. 435 3 Russ. R. 192; 2 Dana, R. 342.
     7. In some of the United States, the estate which the wife takes in the
lands of her deceased husband, varies essentially from the right of dower at
common law. In some of the states, she takes one-third of the profits, or in
case of there being no children, one half. In others she takes the same
right in fee, when there are no lineal descendants; and in one she takes
two-thirds in fee, when there are no lineal ascendants or descendants, or
brother or sister of the whole or half blood. 1 Hill. Ab. 57, 8; see Bouv.
Inst. Index, h.t.