Adjacent Words

Dote definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DOTE, v.i.
1. To be delirious; to have the intellect impaired by age, so that the mind wanders or wavers; to be silly.
Time has made you dote, and vainly tell of arms imagined in your lonely cell.
2. To be excessively in love; usually with on or upon; to dote on, is to love to excess or extravagance.
What dust we dote on, when tis man we love.
Aholah dotes on her lovers, the Assyrians. Ezek 23.
3. To decay.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: be foolish or senile due to old age
2: shower with love; show excessive affection for; "Grandmother dotes on her the twins"

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb (doted; doting) Etymology: Middle English; akin to Middle Low German dotten to be foolish Date: 13th century 1. to exhibit mental decline of or like that of old age ; be in one's dotage 2. to be lavish or excessive in one's attention, fondness, or affection — usually used with on <doted on her only grandchild> • doter noun • dotingly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. 1 (foll. by on, upon) be foolishly or excessively fond of. 2 be silly or feeble-minded, esp. from old age. Derivatives: doter n. dotingly adv. Etymology: ME, corresp. to MDu. doten be silly

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dote Dote, n. An imbecile; a dotard. --Halliwell.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dote Dote, n. [See Dot dowry.] 1. A marriage portion. [Obs.] See 1st Dot, n. --Wyatt. 2. pl. Natural endowments. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dote Dote, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Doted; p. pr. & vb. n. Doting.] [OE. doten; akin to OD. doten, D. dutten, to doze, Icel. dotta to nod from sleep, MHG. t?zen to keep still: cf. F. doter, OF. radoter (to dote, rave, talk idly or senselessly), which are from the same source.] [Written also doat.] 1. To act foolishly. [Obs.] He wol make him doten anon right. --Chaucer. 2. To be weak-minded, silly, or idiotic; to have the intellect impaired, especially by age, so that the mind wanders or wavers; to drivel. Time has made you dote, and vainly tell Of arms imagined in your lonely cell. --Dryden. He survived the use of his reason, grew infatuated, and doted long before he died. --South. 3. To be excessively or foolishly fond; to love to excess; to be weakly affectionate; -- with on or upon; as, the mother dotes on her child. Sing, siren, for thyself, and I will dote. --Shak. What dust we dote on, when 't is man we love. -- Pope.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dotes, doting, doted) If you say that someone dotes on a person or a thing, you mean that they love or care about them very much and ignore any faults they may have. He dotes on his nine-year-old son. VERB: V on/upon n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dot: "To dote" means either "to be weakminded" or "to be foolishly fond." In the latter sense it is employed in Eze 23:5 ff; in the former, in Jer 50:36 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "shall become fools"); the King James Version Sirach 25:2 (the Revised Version (British and American) "lacking understanding"), and the King James Version 1Ti 6:4 (the Revised Version, margin "to be sick"; the King James Version margin"a fool").

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Drivel, be imbecile, be foolish, be in one's dotage or second childhood. 2. Be over-fond, be foolishly fond.

Moby Thesaurus

adore, babble, be fond of, be insane, be stupid, blather, blither, burble, coddle, dither, drivel, drool, enjoy, fancy, have a demon, hold dear, idolize, indulge, like, love, make much of, maunder, pamper, rage, ramble, rant, rave, run amok, run mad, slaver, slobber, spoil, wander, worship