Dotage

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈdoʊtɪd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. A phase characterized by diminished mental acuity primarily in the elderly
2. A stage in later life marked by a reduction in mental sharpness and cognitive ability
3. The phase of advanced age when memory and thinking skills typically become impaired

Etymology: "Dotage" is built from two parts. The first is "dote," which in Middle English was "doten," meaning to be foolish or silly, to act in a childish or feeble-minded way. The second is the suffix "-age," borrowed from Old French, where it attached to verbs and nouns to form words for a condition, state, or collection. Put together, the word named the state of being doting, which is to say a condition of weakened judgment. Notice that "dote" originally described foolishness of any kind, not affection. The sense of loving someone to excess, as in "dote on," developed later and is the reason many people now hear "dotage" as a word about devotion. The older meaning survives in the word's current use: it names the foolish, forgetful years at the end of life rather than a fondness for anyone.

Synonyms: senility, dementia, decline, weakness, feebleness

Antonyms: youth, vitality, strength, sharpness, lucidity