dote

n. An imbecile; a dotard. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

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&unr_;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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He wol make him doten anon right. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Time has made you dote, and vainly tell
Of arms imagined in your lonely cell. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

He survived the use of his reason, grew infatuated, and doted long before he died. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sing, siren, for thyself, and I will dote. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

What dust we dote on, when 't is man we love. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Stupid; foolish. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Senseless speech and doted ignorance. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Half-rotten; as, doted wood. [ Local, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A dotard. [ R. ] Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who dotes; a man whose understanding is enfeebled by age; a dotard. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One excessively fond, or weak in love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]