bride price

Definitions

In some cultures, a sum of money or other valuables paid by a bridegroom or on his behalf to the family of the bride.

Equivalents

Examples

“It is well known in Artas as in other villages exactly what the bride price should customarily be—so much for a cousin bride, so much more for a village bride, more still for a stranger.”

“Taiqian county in Henan province has issued guidelines saying grooms should pay⟳ no more than 60,000 yuan (HK$67,000) as a “bride price”, the Chinese tradition that a male partner offers money to his fiancée’s family to secure their marriage.”

“Their fares across the Atlantic were paid on the understanding that when they married, their Virginian husbands would pay⟳ a bride price for them of 150 pounds of tobacco, then worth about £22 (perhaps seven years’ salary for a domestic maid).”

CEFR level