endow, v.
(ɛnˈdaʊ)
Also 7–8 indow.
[f. en- prefix1 + F. douer:—L. dōtāre, f. dōt-em dowry. In legal AF. (15th c.) endouer.]
1. trans. † a. To give a dowry to (a woman) (obs.). b. To provide dower for (a widow). Formerly const. of.
| 1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 10 §7 Suche woman shalbe endowed of as muche of the residue of her husbandes tenementes. 1574 tr. Littleton's Tenures 8 b, The wife..shall bee endowed of the thirde parte of such landes. 1607 Shaks. Timon i. i. 139 How shall she be endowed, If she be mated with an equall Husband? 1635 Austin Medit. 106 Lest hee should be thought unable to endowe his Spouse. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 131 An alien also cannot be endowed, unless she be queen consort. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 180 If the wife be past the age of nine years, at the time of her husband's death, she shall be endowed. |
† c. To give as a dowry. fig. Obs. rare—1.
| 1475 Caxton Jason 4 [Death] the dowaire that nature hath endowed to me. |
2. To enrich with property; to provide (by bequest or gift) a permanent income for (a person, society, or institution).
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 69 How that the Crown may be best endowed. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. vii. (1520) 150 b/2 Whiche preest is sufficyently endowed for hym and a servaunt. 1569 Bk. Com. Prayer, Matrimony, With al my worldly Goodes I thee endowe. 1570 Act 13 Eliz. c. 10 §1 Ecclesiastical Persons.. being endowed and possessed of ancient Palaces..and other Edifices. 1580 Stow Annales 559 He indowed them with rents and reuenues taken from the priories..which hee suppressed. 1638 Penit. Conf. vii. (1657) 136 Let an Hospital be once erected, and endowed. 1772 Burke Sp. Ch. Claims Bill 17 Feb. Wks. X. 146 Not that the Church of England is incompetently endowed. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Cockayne Wks. (Bohn) II. 64 A testator endows a dog or a rookery, and Europe cannot interfere with his absurdity. 1857 Toulm. Smith Parish 15 The piety of the wealthy led them to build and endow these [churches]. |
3. fig. a. To invest with (privileges, etc.).
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 75 All Achaæa generally throughout, Domitius Nero endowed with freedom. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. vi. 126 Justinian did new-found the Patriarchate..and indow it with ample priviledges. |
b. To enrich or furnish with († in, † of) any ‘gift’, quality, or power of mind or body.
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 143 Hym ought endowed be in sapience. 1425 Paston Lett. 5. I. 21 Ye are..of worshepe and cunnyng worthyly endowed. 1475 Caxton Jason 34 b, Thinking on the vertues wher in he was endowed they complayned him moche. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 169 b, He hath endowed vs christians..with the spiryte of adopcyon. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. v, Our Saviour endowed them with all the fulness of power that mortal men were capable of. 1743 J. Morris Serm. ii. 34 They..who were indowed with any extraordinary gifts. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 114 Tennyson is endowed precisely in points where Wordsworth wanted. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 212 Inorganic matter becomes first endowed with life and organisation during the growth of plants. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 142 Considered as statuesque figures endowed with speech, Brutus, Cæsar, and the rest are noble and impressive. |
c. To invest (imaginatively) with a quality.
| 1888 C. M. Yonge Hannah More 62 The ladies not only believed in her wonderful genius, but endowed her with all imaginable virtues. |
† d. Said of the qualities with which one is ‘endowed’. Cf. endue v. 9 b. Obs.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. i. 24 I do not thinke So faire an Outward, and such stuffe within Endowes a man, but hee. |
† 4. ? Confused with endue. To put on (garments).
| 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour C ij, The deuylle..dyde her endowe her gownes. |