Word.ws English Dictionary

Dunmow

Dunmow noun: used with reference to a tradition in Little Dunmow, Essex, according to which a flitch of bacon would be awarded by the priory to a couple who could swear after a year of marriage that they had never had an argument or regretted getting married.

Noun

Dunmow (uncountable)

  1. Used with reference to a tradition in Little Dunmow, Essex, according to which a flitch of bacon would be awarded by the priory to a couple who could swear after a year of marriage that they had never had an argument or regretted getting married.
    • The bacon was nat fet for hem, I trowe, / That som men han in Essex at Dunmowe.1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story via the 'title' parameter)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne]...
    • Nor let the supposition of matrimonial differences frighten you: honey-moon lasts not now-a-days above a fortnight; and Dunmow flitch, as I have been informed, was never claimed; though some say once it was.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn...

Proper noun

Dunmow

  1. Both Great Dunmow and Little Dunmow; the former Dunmow railway station was in Great Dunmow.

Phrases with Dunmow

Questions about Dunmow

What does Dunmow mean?
Dunmow means used with reference to a tradition in Little Dunmow, Essex, according to which a flitch of bacon would be awarded by the priory to a couple who could swear after a year of marriage that they had never had an argument or regretted getting married.
What part of speech is Dunmow?
Dunmow can be a noun or a proper noun.

Words near Dunmow in the dictionary

  1. dunmesh
  2. Dunmire
  3. Dunmires
  4. Dunmore
  5. Dunmores
  6. Dunmow
  7. Dunmow flitch
  8. Dunmow flitches
  9. Dunmurry
  10. Dunn
  11. Dunn County

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Dunmow (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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