dos

/dows/ In Roman law, dowry; a wife's marriage portion; all that property which on marriage is transferred by the wife herself or by another to the husband with a view of diminishing the burden which the marriage will entail upon him. It is of three kinds. Profectitia dos is that which is derived from the property of the wife's father or paternal grandfather. That dos is termed adventitia which is not profectitia in respect to its source, whether it is given by the wife from her own estate or by the wife's mother or a third person. It is termed receptitia dos when accompanied by a stipulation for its reclamation by the constitutor on the termination of the marriage. In old English law, the portion given to the wife by the husband at the church door, in consideration of the marriage; dower; the wife's portion out of her deceased husband's estate in case he had not endowed her