endow
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Late Middle English endowen, endouen, enduen, indouen, indw (“to provide with assets, a livelihood, or privileges; to bestow, grant; (figuratively) to favour; to endow”), from Anglo-Norman endouer, from Old French en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + douer (“to endow”) (from Latin dōtāre (present active infinitive of dōtō (“to endow”)); modern French douer). Dōtō is derived from dōs (“dowry; endowment, gift”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
Inflected forms:
form: endows
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: endowing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: endowed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: endowed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: indow
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: To give property to (someone) as a gift; specifically, to provide (a person or institution) with support in the form of a permanent fund of money or other benefits.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: His [John, King of England's] Acts and Orders for the VVeale-publike vvere beyond moſt: hee being either the firſt, or the chiefeſt, vvho appointed thoſe noble Formes of Ciuill gouernement in London, and moſt Cities, and Incorporate Tovvnes of England, endovving them alſo vvith their greateſt Franchiſes; […]
Men began to build Churches on their own Grounds, at their own Charges, and to endow theſe; and they were naturally the Maſters, and in the true Signification of the Roman word, the Patrons of them.
Finding her quite incorrigible in this respect, Emma suffered her to depart; but not before she had confided to her that important and never-sufficiently-to-be-taken-care-of answer, and endowed her moreover with a pretty little bracelet as a keepsake.
The blessing of private initiative for public affairs is destined to be appreciated more deeply. Empty government coffers and a regular exchange of views with experts from all over the world add impetus, even if concepts developed indigenously sometimes still lack a realistic approach to the vital issue of endowing and funding new foundations.
gloss: To enrich or furnish with some faculty or quality.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Wherby we bith lerned þat it shalnot only be goode to owre prince, but also to vs selff, that he be well indowed; ffor ellis the patriarke wolde not haue made such a trety.
Vpon her eyelids many Graces ſate, / Vnder the ſhadow of her euen browes, / VVorking belgardes [beautiful looks], and amorous retrate [portrait], / And euerie one her with a grace endowes: […]
Father Omnipotent, our Lord and only Redeemer, / […] with thy grace my ſpirit endow: […]
Firſt, it is needfull that we be indowed with humility of ſpirit, that denying our owne ſelves and carnall reaſon, wee may ſubmit to take ſuch ſence and meaning of the Scripture, as it of it ſelfe affords, with the aſſiſtance of the helps of the Church; and not to impoſe upon it any ſenſe of our owne making; […]
[A]midst so many vicissitudes of fortune to which I have been exposed, amongst all the goods and evils, the joyful and gloomy, the pleasing and disagreeable circumstances of life, thou [God] endowest me with an equal, constant, manly, and superior spirit on every occasion.
I am weak; but surely the spirits who assist my vengeance will endow me with sufficient strength.
[T]he sculptor lifted it [a round block of stone], turned it hither and thither in his hands, brushed off the clinging soil, and finally placed it on the slender neck of the newly discovered statue. The effect was magical. It immediately lighted up and vivified the whole figure, endowing it with personality, soul, and intelligence.
Thus was he [John Boyle O'Reilly] fitted to fulfill worthily the vocation of a poet. For it is not aimlessly that Divine Providence endows a human being with qualities so exceptional and exalted.
[P]roper use of sensory feedback is required to grant the industrial robot the required sensing capabilities and to endow it with the intelligence needed for detecting and adjusting to environmental disturbances.
General relativity endows spacetime with a causal structure described by observer-invariant light cones. […] Points inside a light cone are causally connected with its vertex, while points outside the same light cone are out-of-causal contact with its vertex.
Just as we may endow people with physical properties, so we sometimes endow physical objects with human-like personalities or subjective states. Perhaps because of their capacity for interior accommodation, cars, ships, airplanes and even houses are often given female characteristics or referred to as 'she'.
It's bulging with giant confidence and packed with outbursts of that mysterious epiphanic grandeur, like moments of sunlight breaking through cloud-cover, with which [Jacques] Audiard endows apparently normal sequences and everyday details.
Historic England explained the listing: "The station's unique design employs a high level of sophistication and innovation through its use of conoid shells supported on a cruck-like frame, which not only create a dramatic aesthetic form, but endow the building with a light and spacious interior."
gloss: To naturally furnish (with something).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: She was endowed with a beautiful voice.
And thus shal the aged Courtier, although he exercise not the qualities that he is indowed withal, comebye his ende at length, to instructe well hys Prince.
[T]he late Monſ. Du Faye [i.e., Charles François de Cisternay du Fay] obſerv'd, that there were two Sorts of Electricity, and that Bodies which are endow'd with one Sort of Electricity attract thoſe which are endow'd with the other Sort of Electricity, whilſt they repel thoſe which have the ſame Electricity.
He [Richard Watson] produced many chemical, phyſical, and metaphyſical reaſons, which ſeem to render the ſuppoſition not altogether indefenſible, that vegetables are endowed with the faculty of perception.
A few naturalists, endowed with much flexibility of mind, and who have already begun to doubt on the immutability of species, may be influenced by this volume; but I look with confidence to the future, to young and rising naturalists, who will be able to view both sides of the question with impartiality.
A young violinist, thirteen years old—Mischa Elman—made his first appearance in Paris on April 2nd, in his own concert at the Salle de Agriculteurs. […] Mischa Elman, indeed, is endowed with most precious gifts, for his art combines the legendary virtuosity of [Niccolò] Paganini with the fulness of sound, the purity of style, and the nobility of expression of [Joseph] Joachim.
In any case, the Midrash states that those who have a pleasant voice should honor God with what He has endowed them.
gloss: To provide with a dower (“the portion that a widow receives from her deceased husband's property”) or a dowry (“property given to a bride”).
pos: verb
tags: archaic
obsolete
transitive
examples: And if a man entice a maide that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he ſhall ſurely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuſe to giue her vnto him, he ſhall pay money according to the dowrie of virgins.
Also if a man ſeiſed in Fee Simple beeing within age endoweth his wife at the Monaſterie or Church doore, and dieth, and his wife enter, in this caſe the heire of the huſband may out her. But otherwiſe it is, (as it ſeemeth) where the father is ſeiſed in fee, and the ſonne within age endoweth his wife ex aſſenſu patris, the Father being then of full age.
[T]he reaſon, which our law gives for adopting it [i.e., dower], is a very plain and a ſenſible one; for the ſuſtenance of the wife, and the nurture and education of the younger children. […] 1. Who may be endowed. She muſt be the actual wife of the party at the time of the deceaſe. If ſhe be divorced a vinculo matrimonii, ſhe ſhall not be endowed; […]
A widow may be endowed of all her husband's lands, tenements, and hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal, under the restrictions before-mentioned, unless there be some special reason to the contrary. Thus, a woman shall not be endowed of a castle built for defence of the realm, because it ought not to be divided. But of a castle that is only for the private use and habitation of the owner, a woman shall be endowed.
Related words: dowager
dower
doweress
dowerless
dowry
Derived words: disendow
endowable
endower
endowment
endowment policy
misendow
reendow
unendowed
well-endowed
Translations: