4 September 2018

dotage

[doh-tij]

noun

1. a decline of mental faculties, especially as associated with old age; senility.
2. excessive fondness; foolish affection.

Origin of dotage

Middle English

1300-1350 Middle English word dating back to 1300-50; See origin at dote, -age

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for dotage

Contemporary Examples

Being politically astute, even in her dotage, Baroness Thatcher was aware what contention that could create.
Margaret Thatcher, Divisive Even in Death
Peter Jukes
April 12, 2013

Historical Examples

And was it not more than a good old man’s dotage, God rest his soul!
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson

Now I am getting into my dotage and look on the dark side of everything.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

Today’s quote

A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.

– Marshall McLuhan

On this day

4 September 1937 – birth of Dawn Fraser AO MBE, Australian swimming legend. Won Olympic gold medals in 1956, 1960 and 1964, as well as a number of silver medals.

4 September 2006 – death of Steve Irwin, ‘The Crocodile Hunter’, Australian wildlife expert and television personality. (Born 22 February 1962).

3 September 2018

assart

[ahs-sart]

noun

British

historical

– piece of land converted from forest to arable use.

‘an assart cut from the woods a few years back’

More example sentences

‘In July 1203, at the height of the crisis in Normandy, King John instructed his chief forester, Hugh de Neville, to sell forest privileges ‘to make our profit by selling woods and demising assarts.’’
1.1 mass noun The action of converting forest to arable use.
‘heavy penalties were imposed for waste and assart’

Verb

[WITH OBJECT]

British

historical

– Convert (forest) to arable use.

‘the Earl of Salisbury was convicted of having assarted 2,300 acres of the parks in 1604’

More example sentences

‘In this system land around the village was gradually colonized from the waste (assarted), and cultivated for crops.’

‘Clearance of woodland and heath (assarting) continued, especially in the Weald of Kent and Sussex, in the Chiltern hills, and in the Arden district of Warwickshire.’

‘This land comprised dismembered lands of the old manses or lands won from the former or by assarting from the waste.’

‘In the period down to the early 1300s, he argued, it was population growth which explained the slow but steady economic expansion – the growth of towns, the process of assarting, and the quickening of activity generally.’

Origin

Late Middle English (as a noun): from Old French essarter, from medieval Latin ex(s)artare, based on ex ‘out’ + sar(r)ire ‘to weed’. The verb dates from the early 16th century.

Today’s quotes

What does it matter how many lovers you have if none of them gives you the universe?

– Jacques Lacan

On this day

3 September 1901 – Australian national flag flies for the first time. The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne has the honours. 3 September is celebrated each year as Australia’s National Flag Day.

3 September 1939 – Britain declares war on Germany.

3 September 1970 – death of Alan Wilson from barbiturate poisoning. It’s unclear whether his death was accidental or suicide. American guitarist and singer-songwriter for Canned Heat. He was 27. His death occurred exactly 14 months after the death of Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones, two weeks before the death of Jimi Hendrix, four weeks before the death of Janis Joplin and exactly 10 months before the death of Jimmy Morrison, all of whom were 27 when they died, fanning concerns for musicians at this age and referencing the deaths as the 27 Club. Born 4 July 1943.

2 September 2018

swidden

[swid-n]

noun

1. a plot of land cleared for farming by burning away vegetation.

Origin of swidden

Middle English, Old Norse
1951; special use of dial. (N England) swidden area of moor from which vegetation has been burned off, noun use of swidden, swithen to singe < Old Norse svithna to be singed, derivative of svītha to singe (compare dial. swithe, Middle English swithen)

Dictionary.com

Today’s quote

As technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of ‘do it yourself.’

– Marshall McLuhan

On this day

2 – 5 September 1666 – Great Fire of London. It destroyed 13,200 homes, leaving 70,000 of the 80,000 inhabitants homeless, 87 churches, St Paul’s Cathedral.

2 September 1752 – last day of the Julian calendar as the British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar. To balance the books, the next 10 days (3 – 13 September) are written off so the Gregorian commences on 14 September, which should have been 3 September in the Julian calendar.

2 September 1945 – Japan signs the ‘Instrument of Surrender’, on the USS Missouri, bringing World War II to an end.

2 September 1951 – Australia, New Zealand and United States sign the ANZUS Security Treaty, a defence pact.

2 September 1973 – death of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of ‘The Hobbit‘ and ‘Lord of the Rings‘. Born 3 January 1892.