speckle
/ˈspɛkəl/ noun, verb
Forms speckles speckling speckled
- noun A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage.
- noun (physics) The random distribution of light when it is scattered by a rough surface.
- noun (Scotland) Kind; sort.
- noun (cytology) A cluster of interchromatin granules in a nucleus.
- verb To mark with speckles.
Synonyms
splicing speckle spot dapple patch fleck maculation stipple bespeckle
Etymology
The noun is from Middle Dutch spekkel; the verb was later coined from the noun, in the late 16th century.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A little or spot in or anything, of a different substance or color from that of the thing itself.
- verb To mark with small spots of a different color from that of the rest of the surface; to variegate with spots of a different color from the ground or surface.
Etymology [Dim. of speck; cf. D. spikkel.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “speckle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details