Dote

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /dəʊt/

Definitions

1. To exhibit an unhealthy degree of affection or care for someone To engage in acts of excessive indulgence or pampering directed at an individual To convey an intense, perhaps disproportionate, fondness that can hinder independence
2. To display overwhelming love or affection towards someone that can be excessive or cloying
3. To express a level of care and tenderness that is unusually intense to the point of being overly indulgent

Etymology: Long before it described a doting grandmother, "dote" meant to be foolish. Its earliest ancestor in English, Middle English "doten," came from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch words meaning "to be foolish" or "to be silly." Love was not the original idea at all; the word began as a judgment on someone's wits. The shift from foolishness to excessive affection followed naturally. To be so wrapped up in someone that you lose your sense is to dote on them, and the sense of overindulgence grew out of that old notion of silliness. The noun trail shows the same path: a "dote" once meant a simpleton, and later nouns for a darling or a beloved object were formed from the modern verb. A separate, unrelated-looking word lies behind the same spelling. In Middle English, "dote" also meant an endowment or dowry, borrowed from Middle French "dote" (now "dot"), which came from Latin "dos." That word has no connection to foolishness, and the two have never merged.

Synonyms: fawn, adore, idolize, cherish, pamper

Antonyms: neglect, disdain, scorn