JOINTURE

n. estate inherited by a woman upon the death of her husband

Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the death of her husband for the life of the wife at least, if she herself be not the cause o determination or forfeiture of it': (Co. Litt. 36b).
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Noun
1. (law) an estate secured to a prospective wife as a marriage settlement in lieu of a dower
(synonym) legal jointure
(hypernym) estate
(classification) law, jurisprudence
2. the act of making or becoming a single unit; "the union of opposing factions"; "he looked forward to the unification of his family for the holidays"
(synonym) union, unification, uniting, conjugation
(hypernym) combination, combining, compounding
(hyponym) coalescence, coalescency, coalition, concretion, conglutination
(derivation) connect, link, link up, join, unite

n. juncture, joint, jointer

(v. t.)
To settle a jointure upon.
  

(n.)
An estate settled on a wife, which she is to enjoy after husband's decease, for her own life at least, in satisfaction of dower.
  

(n.)
A joining; a joint.