Veno

Veno 

(Old Russian, veno; Polish, wiano; Czech, věno; Latin, venum: sale), in the feudal law of certain European states, the redemption money paid by the prospective groom to the parents (relatives) of the bride. (Sometimes, it was paid to the commune.) It was paid both in the event of abduction and in the purchase of the bride. The veno was initially very substantial (during the ninth and tenth centuries). In Russian sources, veno was mentioned in reference to the tenth and 11th centuries (for example, in the PrimaryChronicle). With the evolution of family relations, veno turned into a symbolic rite, and the term itself began to be understood in the sense of “dowry” (for example, in the Kormchaia kniga, in Czech law, and in Lithuanian law). In Polish feudal law, veno (wiano) had two meanings: the dowry (dotalicium) and the obligation imposed on the husband’s property (usually in the amount of the dowry) as a means of guaranteeing the property interests of the wife in the event she was widowed. Among the peoples of Middle Asia, kalym is close to veno.