Etymology: < dote v.¹ With sense 4 compare earlier dotey n.Compare Middle Dutch dōte folly, weakness of mind.

Etymology: Apparently < Middle French dote dowry, (in extended use) natural gift or endowment (both early 15th cent.), variant of dot (French dot ) dowry (13th cent. in Old French; rare before the mid 16th cent.), gift, present, endowment < classical Latin dōt- , dōs dowry, wedding present (from groom to bride), endowment, gift, talent, advantage, virtue, amenity < the base of dare to give (see datum n.); compare ancient Greek δώς action of giving. Compare dot n.²Compare Old Occitan, Occitan dot, Catalan dot, Spanish dote, Italian dote (all 13th cent.). N.E.D. (1897) gives the pronunciation as (do^ut) /dəʊt/.

Etymology: < dote v.² Compare earlier doting n.²

Etymology: Either (i) < Middle Dutch doten, to be deranged, to become light-headed, dutten to rage (early modern Dutch doten, dutten (1588 in Kiliaan)), cognate with Middle Low German (rare) dōten to be out of one's mind (rare), further etymology uncertain (see note), or perhaps (ii) the reflex of an unattested Old English verb possibly related to these.It is unclear whether Dutch dutten ‘to take a nap’ (c1599) shows the same word as Middle Dutch doten , dutten . Compare also Middle High German totzen to take a nap, Icelandic dotta to nod from sleep. If the two Dutch verbs do show the same origin, the likelihood is that they are < the same Germanic base as theoten v. Compare also Old French, Middle French, French radoter to become childish or senile (late 12th cent.), to waffle (1613), a remodelling (after prefixed verbs in ra- ) of Old French redoter to become childish or senile (c1100; < re- re- prefix + an unattested simplex verb *doter ‘to rave, to be out of one's mind’, either directly < Middle Dutch doten or < its Germanic base). With the β. forms compare doited adj. and discussion at that entry.

Etymology: Probably an extended use of dote v.¹, although perhaps compare earlier dod v.¹ (an alteration of which seems unlikely on phonological grounds). Compare dotard adj.² and n.²

Etymology: < Middle French doter (French doter ) to provide (a person or thing) with certain advantageous qualities or possessions (late 12th cent. in Old French), to endow (a person or group of people) with goods or an income (15th cent.), to provide (a bride) with a dowry (1522) < classical Latin dōtāre to provide a dowry for, to provide with a dowry (of), in post-classical Latin also to provide (a church) with an endowment (6th cent.), to endow (an academic institution) (from 13th cent. in British sources) < dōt- , dōs dowry (see dote n.²); probably formed after dōtātus dotate adj. Compare earlier dow v.², endow v., and later dotate v.Compare Old Occitan dotar, Catalan dotar (early 15th cent.), Spanish dotar (early 14th cent.), Italian dotare (13th cent.), and also Middle Dutch dotēren (Dutch doteeren), Middle Low German dotēren.