Origin and history of dotard

also dotipoll, c. 1400, dotypolle, dodipoll, "stupid person," now obsolete in whatever spelling. The second element is poll (n.) in the original sense of "head." The first element is probably from Middle English dote (n.) "fool, simpleton, senile old man" (mid-12c.), from dote (v.). But it is sometimes said to be from Middle English dodden "to shear, shave."

c. 1200, doten, "behave irrationally, do foolish things, be or become silly or deranged," also "be feeble-minded from age," probably from an unrecorded Old English word akin to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch doten "be foolish, be out of one's mind," all of which are of unknown origin, or directly from these words.

Century Dictionary and OED compare Dutch dutten "take a nap; mope;" Icelandic dotta "to nod, sleep;" Middle High German totzen "take a nap." Wedgwood writes, "The radical sense seems to be to nod the head, thence to become sleepy, to doze, to become confused in the understanding."

From late 15c. as "be infatuated, bestow excessive love." Also in Middle English "to decay, deteriorate," in reference to rotten timber, etc. (mid-15c.). There was a noun dote "fool, simpleton, senile man" (mid-12c.), but Middle English Compendium considers this to be from the verb. Related: Doted; dotes; doting.

also -art, from Old French -ard, -art, from German -hard, -hart "hardy," forming the second element in many personal names, often used as an intensifier, but in Middle High German and Dutch used as a pejorative element in common nouns, and thus passing into Middle English in bastard, coward, blaffard ("one who stammers"), tailard "one who has a tail" (a term of abuse), etc.

It thus became a living element in English, as in buzzard, drunkard. The German element is from Proto-Germanic *-hart/*-hard "bold, hardy" (from PIE root *kar- "hard").