What is a dotard? The centuries-old insult Kim Jong-un threw at Donald Trump

A new term has reappeared in the daily lexicon thanks to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after he called President Donald Trump a "dotard". The use of this generally unknown word has lead many to ask: what is a dotard?

The word appeared twice in a statement by the North Korean despot, who was lashing out against the speech that Trump made at the United Nations General Assembly, in which he threatened to "totally destroy" the hermit nation.

On top of this, the president announced fresh sanctions to be slapped on top of the past two rounds of UN-backed sanctions in an attempt to squeeze the country economically after its provocative nuclear tests.

Kim Jong-un, in his rare personal statement, said: "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.

"Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wanted to say."

But while many world experts were focused on the possible geopolitical impacts of this latest war of words, on social media, many were left wondering what some of the words even meant.

Dotard, according to the Oxford English Dictionary is "an old person, especially one who has become weak or senile".

The word originates from 14th century English and originally meant imbecile. According to Merriam-Webster, it comes from the Middle English word "doten", which means "to dote".

But some questioned if the North Korean leader even used this word at all, or if his actual comments were lost in translation. Jihye Lee, a South Korean journalist, pointed out that the literal translation would be "old beast lunatic".