dotage

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English

Etymology

From dote +‎ -age, from Middle English doten (“to dote”).

Pronunciation

Noun

dotage (countable and uncountable, plural dotages)

  1. Decline in judgment and other cognitive functions, associated with aging; senility.
    • 1841, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in The Old Curiosity Shop:
      "More care!" said the old man. […] There were in his face marks of deep and anxious thought which convinced me that he could not be, as I had been at first inclined to suppose, in a state of dotage or imbecility.
  2. Fondness or attentiveness, especially to an excessive degree.
    • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 108, column 2:
      Claudio. And ſhe is exceeding wiſe.
      Prince. In euery thing, but in louing Benedicke. […] I would ſhee had beſtowed this dotage on mee,
  3. Foolish utterance(s); drivel.
    • 1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, , volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 193:
      the ſapleſs dotages of old Paris and Salamanca.

Synonyms

Translations

Anagrams

Middle English

Etymology

From doten +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɔːˈtaːd͡ʒ(ə)/, /ˈdɔːtad͡ʒ(ə)/

Noun

dotage (uncountable) (Late Middle English)

  1. Behaviour that is stupid or ill-advised; ridiculousness or insanity:
    1. Ill-thought or fatuitous love or romantic feelings.
    2. Weakening of the mind due to age; dotage.
  2. Disintegration, rotting, or collapsing.

Descendants

  • English: dotage

References

Wikious
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