mottle
UK /ˈmɒt.əl/ · US /ˈmɑ.təl/ verb, noun
Forms mottles mottling mottled
- verb To mark with blotches of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.
- noun (countable) A distinguishing blotch of colour.
- noun (countable, uncountable) A mottled or spotted pattern. “The most common symptom is a mild mottle on the youngest leaves of infected plants.”
- noun Any of several species of genus Logania of butterflies, found from Burma to the Philippines and New Guinea.
Synonyms
Etymology
1670-80. Probably back-formation from motley.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To mark with spots of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.
- noun A mottled appearance.
Etymology [From Mottled.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mottle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details