Dictionary.com

dote

[ doht ]
/ doʊt /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR dote

verb (used without object), dot·ed, dot·ing.Also doat .

to bestow or express excessive love or fondness habitually (usually followed by on or upon): They dote on their youngest daughter.
to show a decline of mental faculties, especially associated with old age.

noun

decay of wood.

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Origin of dote

1175–1225; Middle English doten “to behave foolishly, become feeble-minded”; cognate with Middle Dutch doten

OTHER WORDS FROM dote

doter, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to dote

fawn, cherish, praise, nurture, flatter, adulate, brown-nose, blandish, cajole

Example sentences from the Web for dote

  • There are five varieties of them, the largest of which is the hood seal and the smallest the doter or harbour seal.

    Ungava Bob|Dillon Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for dote

dote

now rarely doat

/ (dəʊt) /

verb (intr)

(foll by on or upon) to love to an excessive or foolish degree
to be foolish or weak-minded, esp as a result of old age

Derived forms of dote

doter or now rarely doater, noun

Word Origin for dote

C13: related to Middle Dutch doten to be silly, Norwegian dudra to shake
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012