dement
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
(intr) to deteriorate mentally, esp because of old age
-
rare (tr) to drive mad; make insane
Etymology
Origin of dement
1535–45; < Late Latin dēmentāre to deprive of mind, equivalent to Latin dēment- (stem of dēmēns ) out of one's mind ( dē- de- + ment- (stem of mēns ) mind) + -āre infinitive suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Success is, eventually, actually reading your unread books, or at least holding on to them long enough that they have the chance to satisfy, dissatisfy or dement you.
From The Guardian • Jan. 7, 2019
“In theory, they’ll be useful. But we don’t know for an individual, does this mean inevitably they will dement? We just don’t know.”
From New York Times • Dec. 26, 2013
There was the moment of intermingling with a noise like thunder, the spectacle of broken lances sailing in the air while hones pawed that dement before they went down backward.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
They need all the care demanded by the confirmed dement, and, in addition, advantage must be taken of every means to promote recovery.
From How to Care for the Insane A Manual for Nurses by Granger, William D.
Esquirol made the important distinction between the idiot and the dement; and after him many other alienists—notably Itard, Falret, Voisin—described the principal symptoms of idiocy, or attempted to show that it is capable of amelioration.
From Mentally Defective Children by Binet, Alfred
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
