LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

dōs

dōs f (genitive dōtis)
Classical[ˈdoːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈdɔs]

Meaning

  1. dowry
    SĪMŌ: Hāc fāmā impulsus, Chremēs / ultrō ad mē vēnit, ūnicam gnātam suam / cum dōte summā fīliō uxōrem ut daret.SIMO: Inspired by [my son’s good] reputation, Chremes came to me of his own accord, so that he could offer his only daughter — with a huge dowry — as a bride to my son.166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 99–101
    ‘saepe mihi Zephyrus ‘dōtēs corrumpere nōlī“Often Zephyrus said to me, ‘Don’t destroy your own dowry.’ My dowry was of no value to me.” (Flora (mythology) stopped caring for flowers when the early Romans neglected to worship her deity; Zephyrus, the west wind of spring, was her consort.)8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 5.319–320
  2. gift, endowment, talent

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

bona quae uxor marītō adfert
dōs dōtis (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 10

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativedōsdōtēs
genitivedōtisdōtum
dōtium
dativedōtīdōtibus
accusativedōtemdōtēs
ablativedōtedōtibus
vocativedōsdōtēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

dotem filiae dare
to give a dowry to one's daughter.

dōs, ōtis (
I. gen. plur. dotium, Dig. 23, 3, 9, § 1 al.; dotum, Val. Max. 4, 4, 11; Tert. Cult. Fem. 2, 9), f. 1. do, like the Sicilian δωτίνη, from διδόναι, Varr. L. L. 5, § 175 Müll., a marriage portion, dowry (for syn. cf.: donum, largitio, munus, donatio, etc.).
I. Prop., Plaut. Am. 2, 2, 209; id. Ep. 2, 1, 11 et saep.; Ter. And. 5, 4, 47; id. Heaut. 5, 1, 64 sq. al.; Cic. Caecin. 25 fin.; id. Fl. 35; id. Att. 14, 13, 5; Caes. B. G. 6, 19, 1; Hor. S. 1, 2, 131; id. Ep. 1, 6, 36 et saep.—Cf. on the legal regulations respecting the dos and the t. t. used in them (dotis datio, dictio, promissio, etc.), Cod. Just. 5, 12; Dig. 23, 3 tit.: De jure dotium, Just. Inst. 2, 7, 3; Cod. Just. 5, 15: De dote cauta, non numerata; id. 5, 11: De dotis promissione et nuda pollicitatione; Dig. 33, 4 tit.: De dote praelegata; ib. 37, 7: De dotis collatione; cf. Rein's Privatr. p. 194 sq. —
II. Transf., a gift, endowment, talent, property, quality (freq. since the Aug. per.; cf.: indoles, ingenium, facultates, virtutes): (juris civilis) artem verborum dote locupletasti, Cic. de Or. 1, 55: vinearum (pedamenta, vimina), Col. 4, 30, 1; cf. praediorum, Dig. 33, 7, 2; ib. 20, § 3: magnae uvarum, Col. 3, 2, 17; cf.: omnis unionum, Plin. 9, 35, 56, § 112: mulsi, id. 22, 24, 50, § 108: aquatilium, id. 32, 11, 53, § 142: formae, Ov. M. 9, 717; cf. oris, id. ib. 5, 562: corporis, id. ib. 583: ingenii (opp. bona corporis), id. A. A. 2, 112; so Curt. 3, 6, 20: corporis, Sen. Vit. Beat. 8, 3: corporis animique dotes, Suet. Tit. 3; cf.: naturae fortunaeque, Plin. Ep. 3, 3, 4: omnes belli et togae, Vell. 1, 12, 3 et saep.: silvarum dotes, the delights, i. e. the chase, Grat. Cyn. 252: est quoque carminibus meritas celebrare puellas Dos mea, my gift, Ov. Am. 1, 10, 60: infelix perii dotibus ipse meis, id. Pont. 2, 7, 48: dos erat ille (sc. Phaon) loci, the ornament, id. H. 15, 146: teneritas in dote (est), is highly prized, Plin. 19, 8, 41, § 141.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *dōtis, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₃tis, from *deh₃- (“give”). Doublet of dosis. Cognate with Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis), Sanskrit दिति (díti).

Descendants
  • Catalandot
  • Frenchdot
  • Italiandota
  • Italiandote
  • Portuguesedote
  • Spanishdote
  • Dalmatianduauta
  • Galiciandote
  • Sicilianduti

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesDosDos (προίξ, φερνή), dowry. Greek In proof of the barbaric simplicity of ancient Greek custom, Aristotle instances the facts that they went armed and b…

Quick answers

What does dōs mean in Latin?
dōs, a noun, means “dowry; gift, endowment, talent”.
What is the genitive of dōs?
The genitive singular is dōtis. dōs is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce dōs?
In classical Latin, [ˈdoːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈdɔs].