The verb is derived from Middle English doten, from Middle Low German doten (“to be foolish”) or Middle Dutch doten (“to be silly”). Doublet of doit (Scottish English).
The noun in the sense of "imbecile" is derived from Middle English dote (“simpleton”), itself from doten (see above). The noun in the sense of "darling" and "decay" is derived from the modern verb.
Meanings
(Ireland, countable) A darling, a cutie.
But to be sure baby Boardman was as good as gold, a perfect little dote in his new fancy bib. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[13]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:
(countable, obsolete) An imbecile; a dotard.
How did his death-bed make him a doate! 1630, Tinker of Turvey:
The verb is derived from Middle English doten, from Middle Low German doten (“to be foolish”) or Middle Dutch doten (“to be silly”). Doublet of doit (Scottish English).
The noun in the sense of "imbecile" is derived from Middle English dote (“simpleton”), itself from doten (see above). The noun in the sense of "darling" and "decay" is derived from the modern verb.
Meanings
(intransitive, stative, usually, with-on) To be weakly or foolishly fond of somebody.
Little Bill's parents just keep doting on him.
Jules doted on Chris, spending hours while Chris was at school assembling vast cities out of microscopic Lego pieces to surprise him when he returned. 2010, Jennifer Egan, “A to B”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad:
'[…] So altered — so faded — worn down by acute suffering of every kind! hardly could I believe the melancholy and sickly figure before me, to be the remains of the lovely, blooming, healthful girl, on whom I had once doated […]' 1811, Jane Austen, chapter 31, in Sense and Sensibility:
(archaic, intransitive) To act in a foolish manner; to be senile.
Time has made you dote, and vainly tell / Of arms imagined in your lonely cell. 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
He survived the use of his reason, grew infatuated, and doted long before he died. 1692–1717, Robert South, “Ill-disposed Affections […] ”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
(intransitive, obsolete, of trees, rare) To rot, decay.
fi jumaloida (to be foolishly fond of) · cs slepě milovat (to be foolishly fond of) · uk гинути (to be foolishly fond of) · cy dwlu (to be foolishly fond of) · pl bzikować (to act in a foolish manner) · nl dol zijn op (to be foolishly fond of) · de verhätscheln (to be foolishly fond of) · ru обожа́ть (to be foolishly fond of) · uk дуріти (to act in a foolish manner) · de vernarrt sein (to be foolishly fond of) · mi whakamatariki (to be foolishly fond of) · bg влюбвам се до уши (to be foolishly fond of) · cs vidět se (v kom) (to be foolishly fond of) · pl szaleć (to be foolishly fond of) · cs být senilní (to act in a foolish manner) · uk кохати до нестями (to be foolishly fond of) · uk шаленіти (to act in a foolish manner) · uk втрачати глузд (to act in a foolish manner) · tr hariflemek (to act in a foolish manner) · ru выжива́ть из ума́ (to act in a foolish manner) · nl dollen (to act in a foolish manner) · cs senilnět (to act in a foolish manner) · de einen Narren fressen (to be foolishly fond of) · bg изкуфявам (to act in a foolish manner) · cs zbožňovat (to be foolishly fond of) · fi hölmöillä (to act in a foolish manner) · de schwärmen (to be foolishly fond of) · cs lpět (na kom) (to be foolishly fond of) · bg оглупявам (to act in a foolish manner) · mi whakamaimoa (to be foolishly fond of) · ru впада́ть в ста́рческий мара́зм (to act in a foolish manner) · pl ubóstwiać (to be foolishly fond of) · pl zbzikować (to act in a foolish manner)