dote
/doʊt/verb, noun
dote is spelled D-O-T-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 72,332nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, dote means “To be weakly or foolishly fond of somebody” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dote?
| Letters | 4: D-O-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 72,332nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is dote?
Dote appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 72,332nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dote?
- UK /dəʊt/
- US /doʊt/
Dote has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dote.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dote?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dote from its last stressed vowel (/oʊt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: toed, tode.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dote
- dotes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- doting participle, present
- doted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dote mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To be weakly or foolishly fond of somebody.
Little Bill's parents just keep doting on him.
- 2
archaicTo act in a foolish manner; to be senile.
- 3
obsoleterareTo rot, decay.
- 4
obsoleteTo endow, donate.
noun
- 1
IrelandA darling, a cutie.
- 2
obsoleteAn imbecile; a dotard.
- 3
rareDecay in a tree.
- 4
obsoleteDowry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dote in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | schwärmen, vernarrt sein, einen Narren fressen, verhätscheln , Liebling, Schatz |
| Spanish | amoroso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dote come from?
The verb is derived from Middle English doten, from Middle Low German doten (“to be foolish”) or Middle Dutch doten (“to be silly”). Doublet of doit (Scottish English). The noun in the sense of "imbecile" is derived from Middle English dote (“simpleton”), itself from doten (see above). The noun in the sense of "darling" and "decay" is derived from the modern verb.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).