dotterel noun & adjective. ['dɒt(ǝ)r(ǝ)l] Also dottrel ['dɒtr(ǝ)l]. LME.
[from DOTE verb¹ + -REL.]
A. noun.
1. A small, exceptionally tame plover, Eudromias morinellus, found on open ground in northern Europe and northern Asia and migrating to the Mediterranean. Also (usu. with specifying word), any of several other plovers of Australia, New Zealand, and S. America of the genera Eudromias, Charadrius, and Peltohyas. LME.

2. A silly or deranged person; a dotard. Now dial. LME.

3. A doddered tree; a pollard. Now dial. E17.
b. attrib. or as adjective.
1. dotterel tree = sense A.3 above. Now dial. M16.

2. Foolish, doting. Now rare or obsolete. L16.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲