dolt (dohlt) n. A stupid person; a dunce.
[Middle English dulte, from past participle of dullen, to dull, from dul,
dull. See dull.]
doltish adj.
doltishˇly adv.
doltishˇness n.
dolt \Dolt\, n. [OE. dulte, prop. p. p. of dullen to dull. See Dull.] A heavy, stupid fellow; a blockhead; a numskull; an ignoramus; a dunce; a dullard.
This Puck seems but a dreaming dolt. --Drayton.
dolt \Dolt\, v. i. To behave foolishly. [Obs.]
The verb dullen in Middle English meant "to dull" or "to stupefy". From this came the noun dold, meaning "dull" or "foolish", eventually moving to its modern spelling sometime in the 1500s. The same word history produced the modern word "doldrums".