Bridewealth
A marriage payment made by the groom or his kin to the bride's kin, common in labor-scarce, less-stratified societies such as much of sub-Saharan Africa. Anthropologist Jack Goody argued it compensates a lineage for the loss of a woman's labor and reproductive contribution and typically circulates onward to fund her brothers' own marriages, sustaining an ongoing alliance between kin groups rather than completing a one-time sale.