Dotage Definition
dotage
Contents |
English
Etymology
From Middle English from doten to dote
Noun
dotage (plural dotages)
- Decline in judgment and other cognitive functions, associated with aging; senility.
- 1841, Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop, ch. 1,
- "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.
- 1841, Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop, ch. 1,
- Fondness or attentiveness, especially to an excessive degree.
- 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 2, sc. 3,
- CLAUDIO: And she is exceeding wise.
- DON PEDRO: In every thing but in loving Benedick. . . . I would she had bestowed this dotage on me.
- 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 2, sc. 3,
- foolish utterance; drivel
- The sapless dotages of old Paris and Salamanca. — Milton.
Synonyms
- (loss of mental acuity associated with aging): second childhood
Anagrams
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