DoW
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Department of War |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Government & Politics, Military |
| Also written | DOW |
DoW has two meanings. It stands for Department of War (US federal agency) or Died of wounds (military term).
Meanings of DoW at a glance
| # | DoW stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Department of War | Government & Politics › US Federal Agency |
| 2 | Died of wounds | Military › Military Term |
1. Department of War
Government & Politics · US Federal Agency Abbreviations
Name of the cabinet department that managed the US Army from 1789 to 1947, revived in September 2025 as an official secondary title for the Department of Defense. The same executive order allowed the Secretary of Defense to be styled Secretary of War.
Example: The memo was issued on DoW letterhead and posted on the department's new war.gov site.
The original War Department oversaw the Army, while a separate Navy Department existed from 1798; both were folded into a unified defense establishment by the National Security Act of 1947. A permanent legal renaming requires an act of Congress, so statutes and many contracts still use Department of Defense, and usage of DoW versus DoD has varied since 2025.
2. Died of wounds (DOW)
Military · Military Term Abbreviations
Casualty category for a service member who reaches a medical treatment facility after being wounded in action but later dies of those wounds. It is distinguished from killed in action, which covers deaths before reaching medical care.
Example: The sergeant was listed DOW after dying at the hospital in Germany three days after the attack.
Military medical researchers track the ratio of DOW to total wounded as a measure of how well trauma care is working; improvements in evacuation and surgery lowered the rate in Iraq and Afghanistan. In finance, Dow refers to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Related abbreviations
More US federal agency abbreviations
- DOJ – United States Department of Justice
- DOL – United States Department of Labor
- DOS – United States Department of State
- DOT – United States Department of Transportation
- EAC – U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- EBSA – Employee Benefits Security Administration
- ED – United States Department of Education
- EEOC – U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
See all 152 US federal agency abbreviations →