Jointure

jointure
    n 1: (law) an estate secured to a prospective wife as a marriage
         settlement in lieu of a dower [syn: {jointure}, {legal
         jointure}]
    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" [syn: {union}, {unification},
       {uniting}, {conjugation}, {jointure}] [ant: {disunion}]
    

Jointure \Join"ture\, n. [F. jointure a joint, orig., a joining,
   L. junctura, fr. jungere to join. See {Join}, and cf.
   {Juncture}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A joining; a joint. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Law) 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.
      [1913 Webster]

            The jointure that your king must make,
            Which with her dowry shall be counterpoised. --Shak.
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Jointure \Join"ture\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Jointured}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Jointuring}.]
   To settle a jointure upon.
   [1913 Webster]
    

JOINTURE, estates.. A competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of 
lands and tenements; to take effect in profit or possession, presently after 
the death of the husband, for the life of the wife at least. 
     2. Jointures are regulated by the statute of 27 Hen. VIII. o. 10, 
commonly called the statute of uses. 
     3. To make a good jointure, the following circumstances must concur, 
namely; 1. It must take effect, in possession or profit, immediately from 
the death of the husband. 2. It must be for the wife's life, or for some 
greater estate. 3. It must be limited to the wife herself, and not to any 
other person in trust for her. 4. It must be made in satisfaction for the 
wife's whole dower, and not of part of it only. 5. The estate limited to the 
wife must be expressed or averred to be, in satisfaction of her whole dower. 
6. It must be made before marriage. A jointure attended with all these 
circumstances is binding on the widow, and is a complete bar to the claim of 
dower; or rather it prevents its ever arising. But there are other. modes of 
limiting an estate to a wife, which, Lord Coke says, are good jointures 
within the statute, provided the wife accepts of them after the death of the 
husband. She may, however, reject them, and claim her dower. Cruise, Dig. 
tit. 7; 2 Bl. Com. 137; Perk. h.t. In its more enlarged sense, a jointure 
signifies a joint estate, limited to both husband and. wife. 2 131. Com. 
137. Vide 14 Vin. Ab. 540; Bac. Ab. h.t.; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1761, et seq. 
    

56 Moby Thesaurus words for "jointure":
      agglomeration, agglutination, aggregation, appanage, articulation,
      bond, bracketing, clustering, combination, communication,
      concatenation, concourse, congeries, conglomeration, conjugation,
      conjunction, connection, convergence, copulation, coupling, dot,
      dower, dowry, endowment, foundation, gathering, hookup,
      intercommunication, intercourse, interlinking, investment, joinder,
      joining, junction, knotting, legal jointure, liaison, linkage,
      linking, marriage, marriage portion, meeting, merger, merging,
      pairing, portion, settlement, splice, symbiosis, thirds, tie,
      tie-in, tie-up, unification, union, yoking