from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.]
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He wol make him doten anon right. --Chaucer.
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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.
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Time has made you dote, and vainly tell
Of arms imagined in your lonely cell. --Dryden.
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He survived the use of his reason, grew infatuated,
and doted long before he died. --South.
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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.
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Sing, siren, for thyself, and I will dote. --Shak.
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What dust we dote on, when 't is man we love. --
Pope.
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