to provide with a permanent fund or source of income: to endow a college.
to furnish, as with some talent, faculty, or quality; equip: Nature has endowed her with great ability.
Obsolete. to provide with a dower.
verb (used without object)
(of a life-insurance policy) to become payable; yield its conditions.
Origin of endow
1350–1400; Middle English endowen<Old French endouer, equivalent to en-en-1 + douer<Latin dōtāre to dower, equivalent to dōt- (stem of dōs) dowry + -āre infinitive suffix
SYNONYMS FOR endow
2 invest, clothe, endue.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR endow ON THESAURUS.COM
OTHER WORDS FROM endow
en·dow·er,nounre·en·dow,verb (used with object)su·per·en·dow,verb (used with object)un·en·dowed,adjective
The company does this to save money, not to give its customers the ability to swap parts around, but it endows the range with a certain degree of Legoability nonetheless.
Inside My Custom Toyota Land Cruiser Build|Wes Siler|October 15, 2020|Outside Online
Thus endowed, both animals were more UV tolerant compared with individuals immersed in only water.
Glowing blue helps shield this tardigrade from harmful ultraviolet light|Jonathan Lambert|October 13, 2020|Science News
This can endow plants—crops, to put a fine point on it—with a built-in health plan.
Junk Food Is Bad For Plants, Too - Issue 90: Something Green|Anne Biklé & David R. Montgomery|September 23, 2020|Nautilus
Coleman says the company has made versions of the coronavirus whose genes are peppered with 240 mutations that endow it with some of the worst-performing codons.
Synthetic biologists have created a slow-growing version of the coronavirus to give as a vaccine|David Rotman|September 16, 2020|MIT Technology Review
However with the founding of new walls, the settlement was finally endowed with its own government.
Ostia Antica: Reconstruction and History of The Harbor City of Ancient Rome|Dattatreya Mandal|April 14, 2020|Realm of History
So we now endow somewhat Islamicism, which we would condemn with the greatest contempt if it were a fundamentalist Christianity.
Sunday Q&A: Josef Joffe on the Myth of American Decline|Michael Moynihan|November 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To expect him to control events would be to endow him with a power that no president has possessed.
How Obama Got Fierce on Foreign Policy: James Mann’s 'The Obamians'|Jacob Heilbrunn|June 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Just this year, Betsy and Dick Devos, trustees from Michigan, pledged $22 million to endow an art management program.
Washington's Richest Power Players|Sandra McElwaine|May 19, 2010|DAILY BEAST
To endow two rained-on and shabby gentlemen with pomp and circumstance!
The Tin Soldier|Temple Bailey
As we go through this existence we discover secrets with which we endow the liberal and the mechanical arts.
Catherine de' Medici|Honore de Balzac
They can endow hospitals, colleges, normal schools, found libraries and establish lectures for the welfare of all.
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)|Theodore Parker
The common tradition gives Judas an extraordinary domestic history, but does not endow him with a sister as perfidious as himself.
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Volume I of 5)|Various
Endow us with high hopes and determined wills, that we may be faithful.
The Optimist's Good Morning|Florence Hobart Perin
British Dictionary definitions for endow
endow
/ (ɪnˈdaʊ) /
verb(tr)
to provide with or bequeath a source of permanent income
(usually foll by with)to provide (with qualities, characteristics, etc)
obsoleteto provide with a dower
Derived forms of endow
endower, noun
Word Origin for endow
C14: from Old French endouer, from en-1 + douer, from Latin dōtāre, from dōs dowry