Doat

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To love or admire someone to an excessive, foolish degree ; to grow weak in mind, especially from old age
2. To be lavishly and uncritically fond of a person ; to decline mentally and become senile through advancing years
3. Showing exaggerated, indulgent affection for someone ; becoming feeble and forgetful in the mind as one grows very old

Etymology: "Doat" is simply an obsolete spelling of "dote," and the verb "dote" came into English from Middle English "doten," meaning "to be foolish," which was borrowed from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch words meaning "to be silly." So the original sense was closer to acting like a fool than to affection, and the modern meaning of loving to excess grew out of that foolishness. The word also reached English in a second, unrelated-looking form. The Middle English noun "dote" meant "simpleton," and that same noun was used for "imbecile" in English, so the word once described a person lacking sense before it described a person pouring affection into someone else. Later, the noun took on the senses "darling" and "decay," both drawn from the modern verb. The verb's sense of foolish fondness is what most readers recognise today, and the spelling "doat" is simply the older form of it.