Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Dotage

Do′tage

,
Noun.
[From
Dote
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
Feebleness or imbecility of understanding or mind, particularly in old age; the childishness of old age; senility;
as, a venerable man, now in his
dotage
.
Capable of distinguishing between the infancy and the
dotage
of Greek literature.
Macaulay.
2.
Foolish utterance; drivel.
The sapless
dotages
of old Paris and Salamanca.
Milton.
3.
Excessive fondness; weak and foolish affection.
The
dotage
of the nation on presbytery.
Bp. Burnet.

Webster 1828 Edition


Dotage

DOTAGE

,
Noun.
[from dote.]
1.
Feebleness or imbecility of understanding or mind, particularly in old age, childishness of old age; as a venerable man now in his dotage.
2.
A doting; excessive fondness.
3.
Deliriousness. [See the verb, to dote.]

Definition 2024


dotage

dotage

English

Noun

dotage (plural dotages)

  1. Decline in judgment and other cognitive functions, associated with aging; senility.
    • 1841, Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop, chapter 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.
  2. Fondness or attentiveness, especially to an excessive degree.
    • 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 2, scene 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.
  3. Foolish utterance(s); drivel.
    The sapless dotages of old Paris and Salamanca. Milton.

Synonyms

Translations

Anagrams