jointure

1 9.9

Property given to a wife to live on after her husband's death

noun
/ˈdʒɔɪn.tʃɚ/

Archaic

: jointura

So by this jointure would we reconstitute those seven immaculate circles of Paradise.

Examples

It's all big noises and little happenings, jointure and separation.

Fiction book (1991)
So, where the statue has been put together out of pieces previously formed, the different kinds of surface and the lines of jointure are allowed to remain instead of being polished over.

Academic text (1995)
A jointure ensures that a woman is financially supported after her husband's death.
In legal cases, a jointure can provide a significant form of security for the widow.
Many families establish a jointure to guarantee their wives a stable income upon their passing.

Synonyms

legal jointure

vsjointure

Archaic

9.9

Land or money given to a woman as part of a marriage agreement to keep if her husband dies

is triggered only when her husband dies rather than at marriage

Compounds

legal jointure

Archaic

9.9

Land or money given to a woman as part of a marriage agreement to keep if her husband dies

Surface Forms

jointure singular

jointures plural

Morphology

jointure = joint (opaque) = joint + ure

The form can be segmented as 'joint' + '-ure', but the legal meaning of an estate settled on a widow is specialized and not directly recoverable from the component meanings.

Etymology

Jointure comes from the Latin root jungere, which means 'to join', and is related to the English word joint. It originally meant property 'joined' to a woman's marriage to give her support after her husband's death, so jointure today means a settled estate for a widow.