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{{short description|Widow who holds a title or property}}
A '''dowager''' is a [[widow]] or widower who holds a title or property – a "[[dower]]" – derived from her or his deceased spouse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marriageoverview/a/dowager.htm|title=Queen as a Title – History of Titles for Female Rulers|work=about.com|access-date=19 March 2017|archive-date=13 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513000826/http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marriageoverview/a/dowager.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with [[monarchy|monarchical]] and [[aristocracy|aristocratic]] [[Title#Aristocratic titles|titles]].

In popular usage, the noun ''dowager'' may refer to any elderly widow, especially one of wealth and dignity or aristocratic manner.

Some dowagers move to a separate residence known as a [[dower house]].

==Use==
[[File:Louis XIV of France and his family attributed to Nicolas de Largillière.jpg|thumb|The [[Madame de Ventadour|Dowager Duchess of Ventadour]] in full mourning attends the King of France]]
[[File:L'impératrice Eugénie en deuil 1873.jpg|thumb|The dowager [[Eugénie de Montijo#Empress|Empress Eugénie]] of France in ''grand deuil'']]
[[File:D. Amélia, Imperatriz do Brasil.(3).jpg|thumb|Empress [[Amélie of Leuchtenberg|Amélie of Brazil]] wore black in mourning for her husband [[Pedro I of Brazil|Pedro I]] for the rest of her life.<ref>{{cite web|author=Loés, João|title=A volta de Dom Pedro I|url=https://istoe.com.br/277892_A+VOLTA+DE+DOM+PEDRO+I/|website=istoe.com.br|date=22 February 2013|language=pt|access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>]]

===In the United Kingdom===
In the United Kingdom the widow of a [[peerage|peer]] or [[baronet]] may continue to use the style she had during her husband's lifetime, e.g. "[[Count|Countess]] of [[placeholder name|Loamshire]]", provided that his successor, if any, has no wife to bear the plain title. Otherwise she more properly prefixes either her [[given name|forename]] or the word ''Dowager'', e.g. "Jane, Countess of Loamshire" or "Dowager Countess of Loamshire". (In any case, she would continue to be called "Lady Loamshire".)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Titles and how to use them|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/style-book/5277599/Titles-and-how-to-use-them.html|access-date=2021-03-07|website=The Telegraph|date=4 May 2009 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The term ''[[queen dowager]]'' is used in the United Kingdom and several other countries for the widow of a king; when the dowager is the mother of the current monarch she is more often known as the [[queen mother]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Queen Mother|url=https://www.history.co.uk/biographies/the-queen-mother|access-date=2021-03-07|website=Sky HISTORY TV channel|language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom]], a dowager peer ranks above her daughter-in-law (the wife of her son, the incumbent peer); this is different to queens dowager, where a daughter-in-law (i.e., the more recent queen) will rank above her mother-in-law.

=== In Sinosphere ===
[[Empress dowager]] is the title given to the mother or widow of a [[Emperor of China|Chinese]], [[Emperor of Japan|Japanese]], [[Emperor of Korea|Korean]] or [[Emperor of Vietnam|Vietnamese]] emperor. A notable example is Chinese [[Empress Dowager Cixi]], who effectively ruled China for over 47 years.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jung Chang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bp4toTYNDLkC&pg=PP68|title=Empress Dowager Cixi|publisher=Knopf Doubleday|year=2013|isbn=9780385350372|page=68}}</ref>

=== In other regions===
This form of address is used for noble ladies whose husbands have died. It was used for the late [[Fabiola of Belgium|Queen Dowager, Fabiola]] of Belgium. 

[[Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain]] was known as a dowager queen after the death of her husband.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lesoir.be/1286062/article/soirmag/soirmag-histoire/2016-08-08/baudouin-et-fabiola-un-couple-fusionnel|title=Baudouin et Fabiola, un couple fusionnel|last=lesoir.be|work=lesoir.be|date=21 August 2016 |access-date=19 March 2017}}</ref>

The widowed wives of [[list of Russian monarchs|Russian emperors]] were bestowed the title of Dowager Empress, and ranked above the wife of the reigning emperor.

==In popular culture==
Elderly widows of wealth, prominence, and dignified or autocratic manner are often referred to informally as dowagers. 
[[File:Miss Eustice LCCN2014696500.jpg|The lady in white is a dowager ({{Circa|1914}})|thumb|right|200px]]
Dowagers portrayed in literature include the Dowager Duchess of Merton in [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[Lord Edgware Dies]]'', and the Dowager Duchess of Denver, Lord Peter's mother in the [[Lord Peter Wimsey]] series.

[[Maggie Smith]] portrayed [[List of Downton Abbey characters#Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham|Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham]] from 2010 to 2015 in the television series ''[[Downton Abbey]]'', and in the 2019 movie sequel ''[[Downton Abbey (film)|Downton Abbey]]'' and the 2022 film ''[[Downton Abbey: A New Era]]''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|dowager}}
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Dowager|short=x}}

[[Category:Noble titles]]
[[Category:Widowhood]]